Lu Chaoyang picked up a pile of documents on the table and looked through them to make sure they were correct.
"Well, these have to be sent to Qi... um, to His Highness."
No matter what position he holds, even though he is now a second-grade tax inspector, in charge of the Imperial Guard, and the head of two major departments in the Ming Dynasty, Lu Chaoyang still maintains a habit.
——The important documents he has passed must be delivered to Zhu Gaojie personally.
Because he knew very well that all the work he was doing now belonged to the top secret ranks, and Lu Chaoyang did not trust anyone except Zhu Gaojie. If some important files were leaked, it wouldn't be a big deal if he was dismissed from office or lost his life, but if it delayed His Highness's important affairs, Lao Lu felt that it would not be a pity to be punished.
Holding a stack of documents, Lao Lu stumbled to find Zhu Gaojie's carriage, and bowed respectfully outside the carriage: "Your Highness, Lu Chaoyang wishes to see you."
These walking carriages and horses lead to the Shuntian Mansion of the Ming Dynasty.
Starting from the ninth day of April, the capital of the Ming Dynasty has officially begun to move from Jinling City to Shuntian Prefecture, which was the previous Beiping Prefecture. Shuntian Prefecture was promoted to the capital, and Jinling City was the remaining capital, implementing the two-capital system.
Although Jinling City still has six ministries, the Metropolitan Inspectorate, the General Affairs Department, the Fifth Military Governor's Office, the Hanlin Academy, the Imperial College and other institutions, and the officials are on the same level as Shuntian Prefecture, if calculated according to the power-containing formula, they are definitely far inferior to Shuntian Prefecture. .
Most of the officials in the original Jinling City will move to Shuntian Mansion, including the crown prince Zhu Gaojie.
…
A gentle voice came from inside the car: "Come in."
Zhu Gaojie's carriage is unusually one foot, two feet and two inches high and eight feet and nine inches wide. The sill is surrounded by golden multicolored vanilla boards. There are two gates beside the door, each with red lines and bright gates, all painted in red. The back five mountains screen the phoenix, with carved wood and five golden dragons on the green ground, with colorful clouds and inscriptions in between.
There are six dragon flags outside the car, and those holding the dragon flags are also in military uniform. There is a yellow flag in the center, a green flag in front of the left, a red flag in front of the right, a black flag in the back left, and a white flag in the back right. Each flag has six sergeants holding crossbows, and their uniforms match the colors of the flags.
Lu Chaoyang walked around the sergeant, opened the curtain and stepped into the car. Zhu Gaojie was sitting on a chair, with a black-robed monk sitting next to him.
Lao Lu bowed and saluted: "Your Highness, Young Master."
Zhu Gaojie waved his hand: "There is no need to stick to etiquette, just talk about what you have to say."
Lu Chaoyang handed over the document in his hand: "Your Highness, this is the report of the tax supervisory department of each province. Within half a month, the tax revenue of each province will be counted. After the black tax and white tax are converted, the total is more than 97 million taels. The amount on this document is The numbers have been verified and confirmed to be correct.”
Yao Guangxiao was shocked when he heard this number: "So many?"
He had calculated a lot. The Tax Supervisory Authority had also given a budget before, but the reality was that this number was much higher than the budget, much more than he imagined.
Ninety-seven million taels, what is this concept?
During the Yongle Dynasty, the annual fiscal revenue was less than 30 million stone grains. After converting into silver, it's about fifteen million taels. In the Song Dynasty, the amount of silver was less than 10 million taels, which was only equivalent to one-sixth of the Song Dynasty.
This was still a prosperous age when the country was strong. There was no way, the Ming Dynasty was just poor.
Although the poor are very brave, they are still poor.
Zhu Gaojie smiled slightly and said: "Young master, don't be surprised. The sea ban has not yet been implemented. If the sea ban is opened, the number will be even higher."
The reason why the Ming Dynasty became the poorest dynasty in history was that it had a vast territory and never had foreign wars in vain. The reason for its poverty is also very simple.
——Sea ban.
The Central Plains dynasties since the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties were commercial dynasties. The maritime ban of the Ming Dynasty completely cut off the process of commercial civilization and reduced ancient China from a commercial form to a large rural area.
Yao Guangxiao was shocked: "Are you still planning to impose a sea ban?"
The prime minister in black, who has been assisting Zhu Gaojie for the past two days, has been stunned by the new crown prince's various extraordinary operations.
It wasn't that Yao Guangxiao's psychological defense was too weak, but that the new prince's actions were too bold.
Reforming taxes, promoting integrity, and now imposing a sea ban, every policy is frantically tested on the edge of danger, and a slight mistake will cause huge turmoil.
This would be tantamount to walking a tightrope carrying the fate of the dynasty, looking down into an abyss of endless darkness.
Zhu Gaojie said calmly: "Improving the sea ban is the path I must take after taking power. I will use overseas trade to pave the way for the Ming Dynasty fleet to march overseas in the future. But don't be too anxious about this matter. You have to eat the hot buns one bite at a time. First, Finish what you are doing before talking about anything else.”
Although he was bold, he was not stupid.
The tax reform has caused a nationwide uproar. If the sea ban is dropped at this time, it will be difficult to guarantee that the situation will not get out of control. Although the current situation is already turbulent, it is still firmly under Zhu Gaojie's control.
"I still have something to report."
Lu Chaoyang bowed and said, "There is a businessman in Jiangxi named Li Zhe. This person has made great contributions to the tax reform and has played an exemplary role. I feel that this person should be rewarded to set an example for the world. "
"Businessman from Jiangxi, Li Zhe?"
Zhu Gaojie touched his chin, "I have some impression of this person."
Lu Chaoyang was a little surprised: "Do you know His Highness?"
Zhu Gaojiu thought for a while and said: "This man is a merchant from the Jiangyou merchant gang. He transported grain from Jiangyou to Tongzhou through the Grand Canal. When I was passing through Tongzhou when I conquered Jianzhou, the grain and grass sank on the canal, so I robbed him. This man’s boat went to intercept passing grain ships on the canal, so he still has some memories.”
Having said this, he paused, "At that time, I gave him a jade token. With this jade token, you can go to Jinling City to receive the reward. Now it seems that he probably did not go."
Lu Chaoyang was a little sulky: "This person doesn't know how to praise, and he even dares to refute His Highness's face!"
Zhu Gaojie shook his head and said calmly: "It's not that he doesn't know how to praise, he is brave and careful. This man has brains and is not an ordinary businessman. He just lacks some opportunities. If he wins the fortune, he can use one or two of them." .”
"What do you mean, Your Highness?"
Zhu Gaojie said leisurely: "In the final analysis, he is just a small person after all. Before he takes over the destiny, he will be an ant. Give him a step and see if he can walk up it. If he can't walk up, That’s the end of it.”
Lu Chaoyang bowed his head and said, "I understand."
…
Li Zhai, Nanchang, Jiangxi.
There are eight names in total for a family, including mansion, mansion, house, home, courtyard, house, hut, and apartment. They are clearly distinguished and cannot be used indiscriminately. If the foundation is too high, or if there are too many houses built, it will be a crime to exceed the limit.
The government is the highest level, and only relatives of the king and relatives can be called a government. As for the house, it is a place for the rich.
As for something more noble than "mansion", it has to be His Majesty the Emperor's palace.
It is said to be Li's house, but in fact it is quite simple, more like a temporary residence.
The owner of Li's house is named Li Zhe, a businessman from the Jiangyou Business Gang.
"Master, we have such a big yard and we can't live in it, so we just gave it to him as the tax superintendent as the yamen. What's the purpose?"
The servant said with some complaints.
Li Zhe, who was wearing civilian clothes, sighed: "Do you know who the boss of this tax inspector is?"
"Master Lu, Mr. Lu Chaoyang of the Tax Supervisory Academy, is a famous executioner. Who knows that Mr. Lu is also in charge of the hawks and dogs of the Jinyi Guard?"
"Then do you know who is the backer standing behind Mr. Lu?"
"I heard a little bit, it seems like...that person?"
The servant no longer dared to say his name, and only dared to refer to him as "that one".
"Isn't this necessary?"
Li Zhe said with emotion, "In the past two days, I have been paying attention to the direction of the imperial court. As soon as I heard that the imperial court was going to set up tax supervision departments in each province, I immediately gave away my house and gave it to the tax supervision department as a yamen. It’s a credit to me that I delivered it early. If I had delivered it late, they wouldn’t accept it.”
When the Tax Superintendent first arrived, there was no pomp and circumstance. It was like he arrived quietly, with no one paying attention. However, Li Zhe took the initiative to establish a good relationship with the Tax Supervisor and donated his house. After learning about the duties of the Tax Supervisor, he also counted the account books of his stores overnight and paid the tax according to the tax rate. Became the first businessman to pay taxes in Jiangxi Province.
At that time, the tax superintendent was not willing to accept them because their status was too sensitive. If they accidentally embezzled dozens of taels of silver, they would be exterminated by the nine tribes.
Facts have proved that Li Zhe's foresight was correct. At that time, everyone was scolding him for being stupid, but when the tax superintendent showed his power, everyone was stunned.
Is this the tax collection department?
This mother is here to claim her life!
For a time, the entire Jiangxi Province was in a state of turmoil and people were in panic. The Tax Supervisor was like an evil ghost counting the 13 prefectures and 78 counties in Jiangxi Province. No matter what you do, you all have to pay taxes to the court!
Li Zhe, who paid his taxes in advance, survived this unprecedented disaster.
Li Zhe murmured: "I heard that the veteran of our Jiangyou merchant gang was ordered by the tax superintendent to pay taxes within fifteen days. The combination of black and white taxes cost him everything, and he still owed hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. In the end, that A veteran quit his job and wanted to spend money to recruit soldiers and horses to assassinate the tax superintendent. No one expected that the tax superintendent came directly with thousands of tax superintendent troops and killed the elder's house with heads all over the floor. Go away, from now on no one dares to make trouble with the Tax Supervisor anymore, they all pay taxes honestly, even if they are selling things, they still have to pay the taxes."
Who would have thought of this?
A civilian department, the Tax Supervision Department that manages taxation, actually has its own army!
Moreover, they were elite border troops who had been withdrawn from Jiubian. Even the officials of the Tax Supervision Department were generals from the Northern Army Town!
You call this a civilian department?
This is obviously a bandit!
It was truly worthy of that person's style of doing things. The bandit leader led a group of small bandits under his command, and his killings shocked the world.
It's fine that you pay the taxes honestly, but if you wait for the tax inspector to come to your door, it will be worse than being punished by God. Once the black taxes and white taxes are cleared, the ashes of eight generations of your ancestors will be digged out and sold at a low price to repay you. Tax debt owed.
(End of chapter)
