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After the princelings agreed on the business tax reform strategy and agreed to keep a low profile and keep a low profile for the time being, they left the East Palace one after another and returned to their respective homes.
But it was said that the prince's young master Guo Tang immediately found his biological brother Guo Min after returning to his mansion.
In the Guo family, the nominal head of the family is Guo Tang, who is the crown prince and young master. However, Guo Min has always been responsible for the management of the Guo family's chores, staff, and various properties. Regardless of Guo Tang's profound knowledge and status, Gao Juezun, but it is not an exaggeration to say that he knows nothing about those account numbers, money, rice, oil, salt, and business operations.
In a certain sense, the real head of the Guo family is Guo Min.
However, this does not mean that Guo Tang is unimportant. In fact, without Guo Tang, the prince and young master, as a signboard, the Guo family would not be as prosperous as it is now!
"Brother, you came to me in such a hurry, but what happened?" Guo Min asked quickly after arriving at Guo Tang's study.
After Guo Tang hesitated for a moment, he did not say anything about his decision in the East Palace today, but just asked: "Guo Min, tell me, how is our business doing now? How big is the scale? How much is the profit? "
Guo Min couldn't help but be stunned when he heard Guo Tang's interrogation.
In Guo Min's eyes, his brother has always been aloof and uninvolved in worldly affairs. He regards money as a piece of shit that smells like copper. He doesn't even mention it much on weekdays, for fear that he will become 7∟ if he mentions it. It has become tacky. Why did you go out of your way and ask yourself about the family business today?
So, Guo Min asked: "Brother, why are you asking about this? But do you need enough money to buy antiques? If this is the case, brother, please mention that our family's business is going smoothly now. We have made a lot of profits. If brother needs it, how much money can we take out? A thousand taels of silver is not a big deal."
On weekdays, most of Guo Tang's salary and silver are used to buy antiques and authentic works and the Four Treasures of the Study. A lot of money was spent on this. Guo Min thought that when Guo Tang asked about the family's business this time, there were some elegant things that were very expensive, but Guo Tang's salary could not afford it, so he wanted to get some money from the government. come out.
Seeing that Guo Min had gone astray, Guo Tang frowned and said, "Why am I asking for money from you? Why are you asking for money? Why do you think of money in everything? You have become more and more vulgar over the years!... ...Forget it, I won’t talk nonsense to you, just tell me about our family’s current business situation.”
Seeing Guo Tang reprimanding herself, Guo Min couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly.
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original. The Guo family is not a well-to-do family with abundant money and grain. In fact, before Guo Tang entered the officialdom and rose up step by step, the Guo family's family background was very ordinary. It was just an ordinary farming family. However, because Guo Tang studied since childhood and aspired to fame, And because of his high talent, the Guo family had high hopes for Guo Tang, believing that Guo Tang would definitely shine, but they had never wronged Guo Tang.
then. Guo Tang's parents farmed day and night, and were very fortunate. However, Guo Tang never even did housework, let alone farming. His younger brother Guo Min had been setting up stalls in the market since he was a child and doing small business. He was looked down upon, but Guo Tang had an allowance of half a tael of silver every month for his expenses. The Guo family lived frugally and devoted all their efforts to provide for Guo Tang's education. But Guo Tang's quality of life is no different from that of an ordinary landlord's son.
And then. Guo Tang did not disappoint the Guo family and actually got the second place in the exam. After entering the Hanlin Academy, he rose through the ranks by relying on his articles and poems. As a result, the Guo family also relied on Guo Tang's reputation to become increasingly prosperous. During this period, Guo Min even started a business under the banner of Guo Tang!
Guo Min has been setting up a stall in the market since he was a child. He is smart, responsive and knowledgeable. With Guo Tang's name as the backing, his business will naturally grow bigger and bigger, and he will make more money! During this period, because Guo Min knew his brother's character well, he never mentioned business matters in front of Guo Tang. He only handed over a large amount of silver to Guo Tang's Chang Sui every month. Once Guo Tang fell in love with something, Chang Then he would immediately pay money to buy it. During this period, Guo Tang not only never handled money, but also didn't even ask about the price.
Therefore, Guo Tang has never experienced the embarrassment and pain of being short of money and food, and naturally he will not understand how precious and useful things like silver are! In Guo Tang's eyes, money is something that is never in short supply. Why are there still people who are obsessed with it and are greedy for it? Or even take bribes and harm the people for such vulgar things? How vulgar!
Although Guo Tang has never experienced the suffering of people's livelihood and spent most of his life in the Hanlin Academy compiling and annotating classics and history, since the saints have said that doing so is wrong, then this kind of thing is naturally wrong and is still incomprehensible. .
It is precisely because of this that Guo Tang has a good reputation in the officialdom. He is famous for "treating gold and silver as dirt". He has never taken corruption or bribery in his official career for many years. Under the law of "birds of a feather flock together", Guo Tang Tang not only became the prince's young master, but also one of the core figures of the prince's party! From then on, "everyone talks and laughs with scholars, and there is no idle person in his dealings", and his character becomes more aloof and arrogant.
Therefore, in Guo Tang's eyes, his brother Guo Min's behavior of always talking about money is really tacky.
In fact, Guo Tang has criticized Guo Min for being a vulgar philistine more than once!
In response, Guo Min could only shake his head and smile bitterly, but he could never refute.
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At this time, Guo Min also smiled bitterly and shook his head, but when Guo Tang asked, he did not hide anything, and just explained: "Brother, now our family's business is going smoothly, and the family business is getting bigger and bigger. Every month There are about nearly ten thousand taels of silver in their accounts, and there will be further increases in the future!"
With tens of thousands of taels of silver coming into the account every month, doesn’t that mean there is an income of more than 100,000 taels of silver every year? How big of an elegant garden can be purchased with so much money? How many antiques and treasures can I buy? As for Cao's rice paper, Jixi's Hui ink, fine Huzhou purple brushes, and precious Tao inkstones, wouldn't it be possible to get as much as you want?
Even though Guo Tang had never known the preciousness of gold and silver, he couldn't help but be slightly shaken at this moment, but he finally came to his senses and shook his head: "That's not what I want to hear. I just want to know that our family's business is all involved." In what aspects? Have you ever done anything like smuggling or tax evasion?”
Guo Min was stunned again when he saw Guo Tang asking in such detail. There was a vague premonition in my heart, but I still said truthfully: "Brother. Among our family's properties, although there are some rice and grain shops, taverns and inns. However, the most profitable one is the shipping on the Grand Canal. Brother, you also know Once the rice, salt, silk, tea, and enamel bambooware from the south are shipped to the north, you can earn several times the profit, and the fur, medicinal materials, cattle and horses from the north are also very profitable when shipped to the south, and our business... naturally has some Smuggling and tax evasion, but this kind of thing is just common nowadays. Every business is doing it, and it is even more forced. Brother, you don’t know, the business tax of the imperial court is too much and heavy nowadays. You have to pay taxes when you go to the government, you have to pay taxes when you go to other provinces, you even have to pay taxes when you pass by Huangzhuang Barracks. There are so many commercial taxes, toll taxes, license taxes, and so on. If we pay them all, our business will not only be unable to make money. On the contrary, it will be impossible to make money. You will lose several times the money!”
After hearing Guo Min's answer, Guo Tang hesitated for a moment and finally ordered: "All these businesses are temporarily suspended! Today I will go to the East Palace. The prince has already made a decision to crack down on smuggling and tax evasion firms in the future. I am the prince. Dear people around me. You can't commit crimes at this time and ruin my reputation! But you don't have to worry. In addition to severely punishing smuggling and tax evasion businesses, the prince also wants to rectify our business tax and abolish the redundant tax system. Tax station. At that time, business taxes will no longer be complicated, and you can just continue doing business."
After hearing Guo Tang's words, Guo Min's expression changed.
Guo Min knew very well that the reason why the Guo family's business was profitable was because of smuggling and tax evasion! If smuggling and tax evasion are not possible, even if the commercial tax is reduced, the Guo family's business income will be significantly reduced.
Compared with Guo Tang, Guo Min loves money a little bit, so he quickly said: "Brother, you must advise His Royal Highness, this is absolutely not allowed!"
Guo Tang frowned and asked, "This is a good thing for the government and the people, why not?"
Guo Min understood Guo Tang's character and knew that at this time, he could never say that doing so would cause the Guo family to lose a lot of money, but he had to find a credible reason, so his mind changed quickly, and after a while, he actually found a real reason. !
"Brother, the prince has made too many enemies by doing this! Think about it, how many tax stations are there from south to north, from east to west? How many officials make money from this? I am afraid that the officials in the world are among them. There will be as many as fifty-six out of ten! By doing this, the prince has offended more than half of the officials in the world! In addition, most of the commercial houses in the world rely on smuggling to make profits. After the prince rectified the commercial tax, although the commercial tax was reduced, it was because Without smuggling, the profits of merchants have also been reduced. Nowadays, the people behind many trading houses are noble and high-ranking officials. By doing this, the prince has offended the merchants and nobles of the world! And... By the way, there is , The price of goods in our country is not high, and it is also because of smuggling by merchants. If smuggling is no longer possible, then prices will definitely increase, and then the prince will offend the people of the world! Therefore, you must not do this! "
If Zhao Junchen were here and saw Guo Min, he immediately thought of the trap he had designed for Prince Zhu Heyu, and he would immediately regard Guo Min as his enemy!
It's a pity that Zhao Junchen doesn't know Guo Min! Although I knew that such a person existed, I didn't pay much attention to him at this time.
In a certain way, Guo Min's knowledge is much better than that of the princelings!
However, even if Guo Min saw the hidden dangers, how could he convince the prince's party to change his mind?
In fact, Guo Min couldn't even convince his brother!
"Humph, although the future is difficult and dangerous, as long as it is beneficial to the people of the world, what do we have to fear?" When Guo Tang heard Guo Min's reasons, his face was filled with disdain.
Seeing Guo Tang's statement, Guo Min became more and more anxious, so his heart suddenly changed. When he saw the various antiques and precious four treasures of the study in Guo Tang's study, he suddenly paid attention again.
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ps: The computer has been displaying and crashing repeatedly during this period. I couldn't bear it anymore so I went to have it repaired. I concluded that "it should have been replaced after using it for so many years", so I replaced it and delayed the update. Please forgive me.
In addition, I saw many new and old readers in the comment area asking Chongzi to update "The Rebellion". Thank you for your love and affirmation of "The Rebellion". Chongzi also assures everyone that "The Rebellion" will definitely be completed. After the completion of "The Regent" Updates will be resumed as soon as possible! Just updating two books at the same time is really beyond Chongzi's ability. I tried it some time ago and it was really difficult. It's not that the plot will be confusing, but the writing style is different. The style of "Regent" is more dark and utilitarian, and the grammar is more practical and smooth, while the style of "Rebel" needs to be lighter and more elegant, and the plot is more leisurely and gentle. Both of them They are too different. They are different attempts of bugs. It is really difficult to convert them. Please understand!
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