This decree to pay back fifty years of taxes at once is the first of its kind since the beginning of the world. It is a feat that has never been done before in all dynasties. For those merchants who have evaded taxes for a long time, it is like a bolt from the blue plus catastrophe. !
If you pay ten taels less every year, cumulatively over fifty years, each family will pay less than 500 taels of taxes and fees. According to the proportion stipulated by the prince, you will have to pay 25,000 taels of silver.
If all the 112 captured families pay this amount, the total amount will be as much as 2.8 million taels. Specifically, each family will have more or less, but it should not be less than 2 million taels. threshold.
No money?
Then the property will be confiscated!
Don't say you don't want to pay, even if you pay a hundred taels less, you will be punished by being executed.
Before the prescribed amount is reached, no one can escape from the city, even if the father's trick is used.
A certain prince has sent someone to tell Huang Degong to intensify the search efforts at each city gate. Only those attending funerals can go out.
However, the deceased must take a designated route at a designated time and be buried at a designated location. The entire process must be supervised by officers and soldiers, and no more than ten family members may be allowed to attend the funeral.
Regardless of whether the people in the coffins were dead or pretending to be dead, they were all buried, even deeper, to see who dared to use this trick to resist the order.
I feel that the burial location is not good. When the martial law is lifted, I can choose a place with a mountain at my back and a river in front of me, with good feng shui, to dig it out and bury it again.
However, a certain prince thought that the probability of such a thing happening was extremely low, because the merchants couldn't even take care of the living, so how could they bother to care about the dead.
The more tea leaves are sold, the greater the amount of tax evasion will be. Unless they really have the financial resources to plug the hole of hundreds of thousands of taels, the whole family will barely save their head and will be sent to mine.
Killing them or sending them to work as miners is not the primary purpose. Yaoji wants to see real money to deal with the tea merchants, otherwise there will be no point in arresting the tea merchants on a large scale.
They couldn't even stop Xiang Donglu and Menggu from smuggling tea leaves, because even if their dens in the capital were taken away, tea merchants in the south of the Yangtze River could continue to sell tea leaves outside the customs through Shanxi merchants.
Like exquisite porcelain and gorgeous silks, fragrant tea is one of the few souvenirs in the empire that can be sold at a high price. If you have the ability, you must control this leaf in your own hands.
If the tax is paid at 20%, the tea tax lost by the court every year will be no less than 5 million taels, which is not lower than during the Southern Song Dynasty, and will be higher.
The main reason is that European countries have recovered from the chaos of the Middle Ages, and the strength of each country has been significantly improved.
Especially the Spanish Empire. Even if the Armada has been turned into an underwater museum, it will be difficult for the empire to make a comeback. However, as long as it continues to control the silver mines in the Americas, it can ensure a certain consumption capacity.
The Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkan Peninsula were all controlled by the powerful Ottoman Empire. Except for the use of troops in Eastern Europe, other areas within the Ottoman Empire were relatively peaceful.
A peaceful environment will increase the spending power of dignitaries and their families, allowing them to spend more of their pocket money on mid-to-high-end luxury consumer goods such as tea.
According to relevant reports obtained by the imperial court from Sichuan, the annual tea production in Sichuan alone is as high as five million jins, and other tea-producing areas such as Zhejiang and Yunnan will not be less than this amount.
It is easy to achieve an annual tea output of 25 million to 30 million jins in the Great Dynasty, and exports can also be stabilized at around 10 million jins.
However, who can tell me that Yunnan's income from the tea class last year was "as high as" fifty-two taels? ? ?
This is pretty good, but Zhejiang actually has less than twenty taels of silver!
Are tea merchants trying to establish their own business and establish a "big tea empire"?
In the early Wanli Dynasty, things were better, and the tea tax could still collect over one hundred thousand taels of silver every year.
In the later stages of the throne, the imperial court completely lost control of local commercial taxes.
For a prosperous place like Jinhua, Zhejiang, the commercial tax revenue last year was less than one hundred taels, which is ridiculous to say the least.
Not even three figures have been collected. This extremely embarrassing amount is simply a collective mockery of the merchants to the emperor and the court!
This is less than one thousandth of the amount of taxes that merchants in the area should actually pay. The business tax is almost in name only.
In the Tang Dynasty, tea tax was levied at 10% in the early stage and 50% in the later stage. The court also implemented a monopoly and monopoly model. Tea garden owners who sold tea on their own would be punished with a cane.
Compared with the Tang and Song dynasties, the Great Dynasty, which deliberately condoned tax evasion, was a paradise for merchants. Its ability to manage taxes, especially commercial taxes, was shrinking day by day, and it could only survive by collecting three taxes.
If you want to change this unfavorable situation immediately, you must start at the root of the problem. Of course, it is not as stupid as raising taxes on them, because there is no time to collect money, but directly ordering merchants to pay back the taxes.
Because no one can produce sufficient tax payment certificates, and if they do produce them, they must go through detailed reconciliation. Neither a certain prince nor the Ministry of Accounts will listen to the businessman's side of the story.
Any discrepancy will be treated as tax evasion. If a merchant dares to cause trouble, it will be regarded as selling tea to Donglu. Once convicted of this crime, the merchant's family will be dead.
At present, the whole city still maintains a state of martial law. The Yongwei Battalion is still searching door-to-door for deserters from the Beijing Camp in the outer city. The inner city is in good order. A curfew is implemented from Xu to Chen, and no one is allowed to go out on the streets.
At this juncture, the main streets of the inner city are full of patrols. Businessmen who want to cause trouble are really worried about their own longevity. No one will support or help them. Everyone is in danger. At most, they can hide behind their windows and watch the excitement.
Yaoji originally planned to levy a million taels of tax on the tea merchants in the capital. If he could collect more, he would be really lucky. Although they are all returned to the Ministry of Household Affairs, they are also used for legitimate purposes. Those who have been corrupted may have already received the tax. Substantial reduction.
Jumin in the outer city was in trouble and suffered a lot from the rebels in the capital. A certain prince could not directly compensate everyone with money, so he could only build a new city to provide work in exchange for relief.
This is of course great news for the poor. At least they can earn a living by having a job, and the whole family will not starve to death.
I don't like the rich. If they don't need that little money, if their shop in the outer city is burned down, it will be burned down. They will only lose a hundred and eight thousand taels of silver. After working for a year or two, they will get their capital back.
"Your Majesty, Lu Jiude, the Supervisor of the Yongwei Battalion, has escorted General Wang Chengen of the Shenji Battalion and Counselor He Zan of the Shenshu Battalion to wait for the Holy Judgment. These two men, together with the Deputy General of the Fifth Military Battalion, Ding Jian, and the Deputy General of the Shenji Battalion, He Wei, the head of Tuge, the deputy general of the Shenshu camp, came to apologize!"
"Well, let them in!"
If they really kill these three rebellious lieutenants, then together with Tao Dinglin sent by the previous Qin army, the only six lieutenants who control the three battalions are Han Rui, Bachu Wang, and Liu Liangzuo who is riding a flower horse. On the run.
"The guilty minister Wang Cheng'en congratulates and pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince..."
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were two Wang Chengen. One was a eunuch who served as a scapegoat, and the other was working in the Beijing camp, and his position was not low, and he had reached the position of general.
"Okay! No need to be polite. I heard that I came here to report that you two captured three traitorous generals. Is this a problem?"
Yaoji only cares about whether the group of bastards who led the team are dead or not. As for the others, whether they are dead or not, they are either dead or buried, or sent to mine.
This time it was considered a triumphant return, and Lu Jiude interjected from the side: "Your Highness, Rong Chen is too talkative. The three leaders are Ding Jian, deputy general of the fifth army camp, He Wei, deputy general of the Shenji camp, and Tugeci, the deputy general of the Shenshu camp. The level inspection has been completed and is ready to be sent to the Ministry of War for record. However, it is too bloody and ferocious, so I dare not bring it up without authorization and ask His Highness to inspect it."
If the head was brought in front of the little prince and the holy body was frightened, he couldn't afford it. It would be dark soon, and the prince would be angry at them if he couldn't sleep at night.
"Yeah! Aiqing is very thoughtful. How was the battle? Where did I catch up with this rebellious one?"
I stopped looking at the head. It’s not enough to be frightened. The important thing is that a certain prince is only ten years old. If he is not frightened after looking at the head, a group of people around him will be frightened. This child is really scary. , has a heart of stone at a young age...
"Enlightenment..."
"Let them talk!"
Lu Jiude had no choice but to obey the order and stepped aside obediently, leaving the right to speak to the guy kneeling on the ground.
After finally getting a chance to defend himself, Wang Chengen, who was wearing a beard, took advantage of the situation and said: "Your Majesty, the guilty minister does not want to accompany He Wei and others to commit crimes. However, the three battalions have joined forces and have a large number of people. The guilty minister has thousands of people under his jurisdiction. People were also bewitched by him, and in desperation, the guilty minister had to lead nearly a hundred leaders to wait for the opportunity. He Wei and others failed to attack the city, so they abandoned the city and fled, and met with the cavalry commanded by Tuge in the city to plot. Exit Qiangziling to the north. Flee to the vicinity of Niulan Mountain and prepare to cross the Baihe River. Lu Jianjun's division happened to arrive in time, and the two sides started a fierce fight. Seeing that the time had come, the guilty minister killed the rebel He Wei. Under the horse, the criminal's men shot Ding Jian."
Not all the generals in the capital camp are willing to join the rebellion with the six lieutenants. After all, glory and wealth are illusory and unreliable things. If you want to get the mountains of gold, silver and jewelry in the palace, you must first go through Huang Chuangzi and Huang Degong. This level.
Wang Chengen had no intention of rebelling at all. The whole family was in the inner city, and he did not want to go outside the customs as a rebel and become a slave of the Donglu. If he committed such a thing and fled, the whole family would be punished. The owl's head is shown to the public.
Instead of going to Liaodong, where the weather is freezing, it would be better to make a decision, chop off He Wei, Ding Jian and others, and use their heads to set the record straight, and maybe even get the prince's pardon.
After his colleagues finished narrating, He Zan continued: "The guilty minister saw that Tuge commanded a large number of cavalry, but the guilty minister only had a thousand men. It may be difficult to succeed in a rash attack. It may be possible to scare the snake. It is similar to what Wang Chengen thought. After passing Lu The elite cavalry of the Yongwei camp under the jurisdiction of the supervisory army intercepted and killed him all the way. Tuge had already suffered a lot of losses and tried to resist stubbornly on the bank of the Baihe River. Upon seeing this, the guilty minister led his troops to kill him! The guilty minister's father, He Huchen, was favored by the Holy Spirit. The guilty minister is also highly valued by the Holy One, and I must not dare to rebel! If I cannot escape death, I hereby boldly pray to His Highness to forgive my family!"
He Zan just wanted to use his own life and Tuge's head to exchange for the lives of the whole family, so that the merits and demerits would be balanced.
After hearing this, Yaoji didn't show any surprised expression. He just said lightly: "Oh! Who do you think I am? It turns out to be He Huchen's son! Are there any brothers in the family serving in the army?"
I think back then, He Huchen had done his best for the court. For the sake of his father, he had to be generous no matter what. Besides, he really brought the certificate of surrender, and he didn't just kneel down and lick him empty-handed.
He Zan was frightened when he heard that the prince knew his father, and that saying so could give him a way out, and he immediately replied: "Your Highness, He Cheng, the younger brother of the guilty minister, is now the Deputy Qianhu of Baoding, and is under the account of Dudu Yang. Efficacy!”
One of the two brothers is in the Beijing camp, and the other is in Baoding. They have risen to the rank of general and deputy qianhu, but they have not yet had the opportunity to achieve the same outstanding military exploits as their fathers, otherwise they would be promoted.
Yao Ji didn't want to hear the story of Niulan Mountain anymore, so he made a final conclusion: "It is a fact that you two participated in the rebellion, but repenting and killing the culprit halfway is considered a step back. But this can only prove that Ding Jian and He Wei , Tuge and other rebels should be punished, but we cannot absolve you two of all the blame. Now that Wang Pu has disrespected the imperial edict and entrenched himself in Datong to fight against the imperial court, I intend to dispatch Baoding Governor Yang Wenyue and the general troops from all walks of life to conquer, and you two will lead our troops. Go along. If you can kill the enemy bravely in this battle, the merits and demerits will be equalized, and I will not be responsible for the things I committed before. Are you two willing?"
There is no need to rush to deal with Wang Pu. The traitor will be lucky if he leads his troops out of seclusion immediately. If he continues to hide in Datong, send someone to ask Huang Taiji for help. The main force of the braid has just swept back home and settled down. It is in the process of repairs and it is impossible to support him as soon as possible.
After the "right-hand man" led the army south, he made a batch of heartless cannons specifically for Yang Wenyue and brought them to the outskirts of Datong. Hundreds of mortars were fired at the same time, which could completely destroy the city defense. Wang Pu would tremble even if he stayed in the city. .
"The sinner is willing!"
Wang Chengen and He Zan had no choice. When they came to the East Palace to meet, they were waiting for the Holy Judgment. Even if they were ordered by the prince to show their heads to the public, they had to accept it. Now with this arrangement, they could just save their lives and come back.
It's just that they don't know about Wang Pu's rebellion. Since Yang Wenyue personally supervises the army to conquer, all he needs to do is follow the army. Tens of thousands of troops conquered Datong, and it will not be difficult to kill Wang Pu. It is within reach to change his mind.
"That's good. You two will go back and appease your subordinates now. You are not allowed to leave the camp without my order. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed. When the day of the expedition goes out, you will go with Yang Wenyue and all the generals. You will need two silver taels before the expedition. , food and grass will be supplied in full, there is no need to worry too much, if there is any deduction, I will make the decision for you."
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your forgiveness!"
"Okay! Please trouble Lu Aiqing to arrange for these two troops to be stationed outside the city. All the wounded must be treated in time without delay!"
"Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will take care of this matter!"
Lu Jiude was very sensible and did not mention the silver reward, because although the main force of the rebellion had been eliminated, the remnants still existed, and the war was far from completely subdued. Even if the silver reward was distributed, it would only be a few days later, so he waited patiently. Just leave it on.
There is a mountain of money in the palace. There is no need to urge the prince to act at this time. The reward regulations have been announced long ago, and even the ordinary soldiers know it clearly. The prince will naturally not do anything stupid like breaking his promise and getting rich.
Yao Ji took out a pamphlet, which contained the names of the rebel generals in the Beijing camp. He picked up a red pen and drew a horizontal line on the names of Ding Jian and three others, which was regarded as a sign of being killed.
The remaining generals who have not been arrested cannot be killed for the time being. It is better to leave some suspense. Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting must be famous for their military service.
