After all, Fang Congzhe was a member of the gentry class and was very aware of the tax evasion behavior of his class.
Therefore, driven by the fact that as the chief minister of the empire and having to cooperate with the emperor's reforms and not care too much about the interests of his own class, he pointedly pointed out one of the main crux of the Ming Dynasty's financial problems, that is, the tax evasion problem of large gentry households.
In this era, tax evasion is called tax.
What Fang Congzhe said is tax evasion.
Zhu Youxiao also nodded after hearing what Fang Congzhe said: "It is urgent to recover Fu Fu! In Yuan Fu's opinion, how should we recover it?"
Fang Congzhe had already guessed that Zhu Youxiao would ask him these questions, so he had already prepared a draft and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, in my opinion, if you want to recover the Fu tax, you will naturally have to rely on officials to collect it. But if we want officials to demand payment, we must put an end to laziness and enforce strict governance!
Corruption among officials in the world, corruption and laziness are the greatest harms, and among them, lazy government is the most harmful. After all, those who are corrupt may not not do things, and those who have lazy government will definitely not do things. Even if a lazy government is incorruptible, it will not be done. It will harm the country and the people!
Therefore, I believe that in order to clear the land and pay the tax arrears, we must first carry out strict inspections and implement the examination method. Taking the new policies implemented by Zhang Wenzheng as a reference, officials at all levels are required to be diligent in political affairs. This is also the time to clear the land in front of the temple. The reason why it is necessary to take the exam first. "
"The examination method must be carried out at the same time as the policy of clearing the land and collecting taxes. Implementing the examination method in the administration of officials, and immediately clearing the land and collecting taxes, a two-pronged approach."
Zhu Youxiao immediately replied.
"However, Your Majesty, what I am worried about is that some officials will extort money from the common people because they are afraid of the rich and powerful, or deliberately flatter the rich and powerful, and are forced by the court to press for tax arrears, leaving the common people even more helpless! I'm afraid something will happen at that time Bigger problem!
Therefore, in the opinion of the minister, the appointment of officials must be accurate, especially the governors who have military and political power. They must use a group of capable ministers and cadres who love the people and are capable to serve as governors. Otherwise, the original intention of the court is to urge Paying tax arrears to big households actually tortures the common people! "
Fang Congzhe had to remind Zhu Youxiaolai that as an experienced official, he knew very well what the consequences would be if he just blindly urged officials to make up for the tax arrears.
Zhu Youxiao nodded after hearing this. He admitted that Fang Congzhe was a mature man who wanted to seek the country and had considered it very carefully, so he said: "I have also thought of this. Whether the New Deal is good or bad depends on the officials below. How to implement it, so I have no intention of letting the governor and other civil servants collect the tax."
Fang Congzhe glanced at Zhu Youxiao in surprise.
Don't you plan to let the governor and other civil servants collect the tax?
Should we still use tax inspectors?
"Expecting a few capable ministers and officials to complete the New Deal can only have a temporary effect. After all, there are not many capable ministers and officials, and they cannot work in the local area all the time. New regulations and systems are still needed. I plan to set up a special yamen to do this." Responsible for collecting taxes, collecting taxes from those who owe taxes, and giving them a certain commission income from tax audits and tax collections. However, this yamen does not have the power to increase taxes. Therefore, if the yamen does not want to be destroyed, If you want to keep your own job, you must strictly investigate and pursue corruption!"
Zhu Youxiao started talking.
His idea was to establish an independent tax department in the Ming Dynasty to collect taxes uniformly. It would be better to set up the most sophisticated tax army so that taxes could be collected by force without fear of wealthy families.
"Specialized Yamen?"
After hearing this, Fang Congzhe asked: "Your Majesty, I dare to ask you, how should this yamen be set up? Could your Majesty tell me clearly?"
“The main body is the most elite and loyal court officers and soldiers, but the Yamen Hall officials are composed of inner court officials, outer court civil servants and military attachés, who supervise each other;
Choose a civilian official as the governor, who is responsible for checking the tax burden on the treasury; choose an imperial minister as the general manager, who is responsible for checking the tax burden on internal funds; choose a military attaché to be responsible for commanding the tax officers and soldiers to collect taxes;
Even when necessary, we will forcefully collect taxes by confiscating homes and suppressing them. As for my plan, this yamen is called Xichang. "
Zhu Youxiao replied.
Fang Congzhe was horrified after hearing this. He had to admit that the emperor was more reliable than relying solely on civil servants, because this method of having civil servants, military generals, and eunuchs jointly responsible for taxation could supervise each other and have a clearer division of labor.
"In this case, the governor and civil servants will not have to impose additional taxes on the common people in order to make up for the shortfall, and Xichang cannot impose additional taxes on the common people in order to complete the task of paying taxes, because they do not have the power to increase taxes, while the governor and civil servants only They are responsible for clearing the land. If they cause large households to have less land and small households to have more land, then they are derelict in their duties, either through corruption or negligence. Then if the West Factory finds something wrong during the tax collection review and reports it and is found out, don’t blame me for being rude to them. !”
Zhu Youxiao showed a fierce expression as he spoke.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty! The Ming Dynasty should indeed set up a special yamen to manage tax collection."
Fang Congzhe replied.
"Then let's draw up a decree. The West Factory will have three official positions: governor, general manager, and admiral. They are all of the first and second grades, and they are not subordinate to each other. They can participate in each other's inspections and audit each other;
As the first governor, Wang Yingjiao, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was given the concurrent post. He was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and he knew best how much tax arrears the Ming Dynasty had;
The first general manager was appointed Li Yongzhen, the eunuch who served as the Superintendent of Ceremonies. This person had rich experience in raids and had just raided illegal Shanxi merchants;
The first admiral was Qi Jin, who was loyal and reliable, and had just finished killing the Eastern captives in Liaodong. His murderous spirit was in full swing, which was perfect for deterring those who dishonestly paid their taxes. "
Zhu Youxiao started to give orders. He had already begun to imagine the scene where his Xichang elite came to a gentleman's door and shouted "Open the door and collect taxes".
"yes!"
Fang Congzhe said and then asked: "Your Majesty, Qi Jin is a strong general. Is it inappropriate to appoint him as the admiral of the West Factory? After all, this is a tax collection rather than a war?"
"Taxation is more important and more difficult than conquest. This taxation requires strong generals and strong troops. Not only do I want the admiral of Xichang to be a strong general, but all the people in Xichang will be elite elites from the empire; what's more, those who don't want to fight At that time, the imperial court could not keep these border army camp soldiers in vain. They had to let them collect taxes for the imperial court in addition to fighting for the imperial court. After all, they were collecting their own military rations;
You have proposed that in addition to the urgent transfer of Qi Jin to lead 3,000 Zhejiang troops back to the capital, Zhao led the 2,000 frontier troops led by Zhao Lingjiao, who was promoted to Ji Liao general, and the 2,000 frontier troops led by Shanhaiguan general Man Gui came to the capital to listen to their instructions. , together with Qin Minping, who was recuperating in the capital, a thousand white pole soldiers training with the Guards, and two thousand school captains selected by the Jinyi Guards, they temporarily formed the West Factory, all called tax supervisors. "
Zhu Youxiao said.
Fang Congzhe was stunned for a moment after hearing this. He didn't expect that His Majesty would directly use the Ming Dynasty's most capable troops to form the West Factory to collect taxes?
Is this going to tax or go to war?
Moreover, this scale adds up to tens of thousands of elite soldiers, with one Qi Jin and three generals. Who dares to resist the tax?
Fang Congzhe was a little worried that if such a tax was imposed, countless families would be destroyed and countless people killed.
"It just so happens that these border army soldiers know how difficult it is for the imperial court to pay them military salaries, and let them feel for themselves how difficult it is to collect a tax."
Zhu Youxiao said something at this time, and then said: "Immediately draw up a decree. The decree to mobilize troops to form the West Factory does not need to be sent to the General Secretary. It will appear in Di Bao and Huang Ming Bao. It will be kept secret first and given to these people in a secret decree." General, and then secretly mobilize troops back to Beijing."
"yes!"
Fang Congzhe and Liu Ruoyu immediately replied.
Next, Fang Congzhe began to draw up the intention to establish the West Factory and mobilize troops to establish the West Factory.
…
Wang Yingjiao, the Minister of Household Affairs, did not know that he had been appointed by the emperor as the governor of Xichang. He hurried to the palace and was eager to see Zhu Youxiao.
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao met with Wang Yingjiao in the political hall.
Therefore, as soon as Wang Yingjiao came to the political hall, he immediately reported: "Your Majesty, I have just learned from the report of Xiao Jingao, the governor of Southern Zhili, and Sun Chengzong, the governor of Susong. This year, the tax and grain tax of Southern Zhili has reached the tax paid last year. About 80% of the grain! In other words, there is almost no taxable grain in the southern province of Zhili to enter Beijing this year! This year's grain supply is obviously going to be cut off!"
At this time, Wei Zhongxian also rushed over.
Zhu Youxiao hurriedly asked Wei Zhongxian: "What's the matter? Just tell me!"
"Back to your Majesty, my slaves came here for a routine report. The person responsible for investigating prices in the East Factory reported that the price of grain in the capital has risen sharply for fifteen days in a row, all because the grain has not arrived in time."
Wei Zhongxian replied.
Zhu Youxiao did ask Dongchang to report on commodity prices, especially grain prices, on a routine basis, so Wei Zhongxian would report there every day.
After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao's face darkened, and he thought to himself: "The food shortage has happened after all!"
After saying that, Zhu Youxiao looked at Fang Congzhe and Wang Yingjiao who were in the political hall, and asked first: "Do you two have any good ideas for this?"
Fang Congzhe also sighed inwardly and thought: "Sure enough, it happened. As soon as His Majesty came to the throne, he governed the country with strictness. He was too harsh on the civil servants, especially the Donglin Party supported by the Jiangnan gentry. He just colluded with the eunuchs and Thousands of people were killed in the two cases of embezzlement of military pay, so it is not surprising that the grain supply will be cut off."
