Ruan Dacheng and three other people were walking when they saw someone watching not far away. After passing by, they realized that it was a group of warriors who were confiscating the property of the grain merchant.
"Master Jun! You can't move! This is my family property!"
The grain merchant wanted to stop him, but was afraid of being whipped, so he could only beg the leader of the team, hoping that the other party would be lenient and let him go.
"What the hell! If you and other profiteers hadn't deliberately stopped the market, how could the people not be able to buy food?"
This leader always comes from the Yongwei camp, and what he did today was also an order from the top. It was definitely not an open robbery, although that was actually what it meant...
Fortunately, everything is civilized!
That's right!
No killing!
No fire!
Not having sex with women!
This is the polite thing to do!
Taking grain from profiteers is an act of justice. If profiteers evade taxes, they can use grain as compensation.
According to Huang Degong's order, in order to rectify the market strike, compensate profiteers for part of the difference in tax evasion, and impose severe punishment on merchants in the city, the specific strategy is to accept a wave first and then talk about it!
Notice!
This is called "receiving", not "grabbing"!
Because there is only the word "tax collection" and there is no such thing as "tax grabbing"!
All merchants in the city who evade taxes are within the scope of Yongwei Camp's tax payment.
Those merchants who have not evaded taxes are naturally not among them, but they are rare and can only be counted on one finger.
"Master Chao! Master Chao! I beg you, Master Chao, please stop now!"
The grain merchant saw that some of the soldiers were being arrogant and unreasonable, but felt that he could not afford to offend them, so he could only run to two government officials to pray.
"Tsk tsk! Oops! It's not that I won't help you, but that the Yongwei camp has obeyed His Majesty's imperial edict. All shops in the city that are closed will collect goods and pay taxes! Didn't you just say that you have no cash? Since it's ten thousand taels If you can’t make it up, then just use food to make it up!”
The two government officials also knew that these soldiers were acting under orders, and they had to cooperate.
"Ah? Why do you say this?"
Grain merchants have never heard of the term "collecting goods to pay taxes". What's the difference between this clear-cut robbery?
"It was promulgated as early as possible! It's okay if you don't know. Isn't this already known?"
The yamen servant looked at the grain merchant with a half-smile, and thought to himself: You are bringing this upon yourself!
"The villain really doesn't know!"
The grain merchant felt that he had been wronged. He didn't know anything, but his shop was robbed by a group of gangsters. What a disaster!
"What if you know? So what if you don't know? Aren't you on strike yet? Since it's a strike, you can just collect goods and pay taxes!"
This boss simply ignored the excuses of the grain merchants. How many merchants in the city had a conscience?
Anyone who participates in the strike is without conscience or a ruthless person!
"This is not because of the villain's will, but because he was forced to do so!"
"Forced by others? Alarmist!"
"Master Jun! Everything the villain said is true!"
"Then just go to the Yamen and file a complaint!"
"You don't dare!"
"You say you are forced to, but you say you dare not, and you treat your military master like a fool? Get out of here!"
This commander always felt that he was being tricked, so he hit the grain merchant in the stomach with his scabbard. The merchant directly covered his stomach and fell to the ground. Although the force was not strong, it still made the grain merchant feel unbearable.
"Father! Father!"
Two young men in their twenties hurried over, squatted next to the grain merchant and asked with great concern. Apparently these were the two sons of the grain merchant.
"A nest of rats! Bah!"
As a member of the Brave Guard Battalion, I despise this kind of guy who wants to pretend to be a good guy and take advantage of him.
If the same is true for soldiers who want to receive military pay but also want to avoid fighting, they are afraid that they will be beheaded in public.
This profiteer said he was forced to do this and didn't dare to file a complaint. Doesn't he deserve to be punished?
"Here comes someone! The Yongwei camp is grabbing food!"
The eldest son of the grain merchant would not give up. When he saw his father being bullied by soldiers, he immediately shouted to the people around him.
"Let you talk nonsense! Master, I will give you a long memory!"
He kicked the young man over with one kick, and then kicked him three times in succession, sending the young man rolling on the ground and wailing.
"The Yongwei camp is beating people! There is no royal law! Oppressing the people! How dare you loot food in broad daylight...ah..."
When the second son saw his eldest brother being beaten, he also hurriedly shouted, hoping to get support from the people around him.
"Let you talk a lot!"
The boss slapped the man so hard that stars appeared in his eyes and the corners of his mouth cracked.
"Master Jun! Master Jun! The dog is young and ignorant. I hope Master Haihan can forgive me!"
Upon seeing this, the grain merchant hurriedly hugged the manager to prevent his son from being seriously injured.
"Excuse me? You, a bastard of a family, first stayed behind closed doors and participated in the strike, and then openly slandered us, the King's officers and soldiers, for following orders. Do you have any conscience?"
His total strength far exceeded that of the grain merchant, and as he was only over thirty years old, it was the time when he was strong enough to break away from the grain merchant in one fell swoop.
"You and your men openly robbed my family of food! Do you have any conscience?"
The younger son was so angry that he got slapped, and immediately retorted after hearing the words.
"You little brat who doesn't know the heights of heaven and earth! If I don't teach you a lesson now, you will become stubborn!"
He is always said to be a little annoyed. This is the case for the grain merchants in the northern capital, and the same is true for the grain merchants in the southern capital. The world is as dark as crows!
"You bastard! Get out of here! Master, spare your life! The dog is young and ignorant, and he speaks indiscriminately. I hope you will forgive me, Master! You can take the food as long as you want, but I will never stop you!"
The grain merchant hurriedly scolded his youngest son, and then apologized to the general manager.
If he really angered the other party, even if he killed someone in the street, his son's death would be in vain in the end.
Compared with the lives of your own family, if you grab the food, just grab it!
"Yeah~! I'll give you some face!"
The boss snored in his throat and suppressed his anger. He came out mainly to make the merchants pay taxes, not to kill people.
Besides, even if the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion kill people in the street, they have to be questioned when they go back, which is very troublesome.
"Dad! This is all food for our family!"
The younger son was still indignant about this. He just watched helplessly as a group of men moved the grain away in sacks. How could he tolerate it?
"Shut up! Go back to the house!"
The grain merchant gave a loud shout, not wanting to let his good-for-nothing son cause trouble anymore. Now he admitted his defeat. If he tried to keep the grain, people would die. It was better to lose money, avoid disaster, and settle down the trouble.
"father!"
"Go back to the house!"
The younger son was so angry that he tossed his sleeves and ran back.
But when I saw these people carrying food, I couldn't swallow it.
He let out the dog he kept at home and bit a soldier who was moving food.
"ah……"
"How dare a vicious dog hurt people?"
"Kill it! Chop it into pieces!"
"Ouch~!"
This made the soldiers extremely angry. They drew their swords one after another and chased the vicious dog. Finally, they cut it into dozens of pieces with random blades before they could relieve their hatred.
"Xiao Hei!"
Seeing that his dog was slaughtered by the gangsters and died in a horrible way, the younger son was so angry that he drew a sword and stabbed a soldier in the chaos without considering the consequences.
"You dare to hurt me? Do you want to rebel?"
"Don't be angry! Catch them alive! Go back and do business easily!"
"Don't let it run away!"
The grain merchant's youngest son immediately regretted the crime and ran away in a hurry. However, the clothes he was wearing were not conducive to running away, and he was no match for the soldiers. Before he could jump out of the window and escape, he was caught by the soldiers and beaten until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen. .
"Both the stolen goods and the stolen goods! Take the murder weapon and go back and report it to General Ming!"
"yes!"
When the boss heard a strange noise inside, he realized something was wrong. After entering, he saw one of his men lying on the ground. Several of his men were shouting for arrest. After a while, his men caught the suspect. in front of me.
"Master, please spare your life! Quanzi was confused for a moment! I am willing to compensate for all losses!"
The grain merchant almost fainted with anger when he saw this. His son was so incompetent in success and failed in many things that he actually did such a treasonous thing.
"Humph! If I had known now, why did I do it in the first place? Your son assassinated the king's soldiers, and the consequences are...at your own risk! Take away the whole family, they are all suspects!"
Anyone who dares to hurt Mr. Huang will know what will happen to him later.
Before coming out, Huang Degong had already lectured in public. This time, all the ministries went out just to pay taxes. They must exercise restraint and not do anything unless necessary, let alone hurt or even kill anyone.
However, the current situation is obviously not one of them. It was the profiteers who hurt people first. They, the soldiers, were just self-defense at most. What's more, they also gained the stolen goods. It was definitely not an act of killing good people and taking credit.
"Master Jun! Master Jun! I'm willing to report this! My master evades taxes and the amount is huge, not less than a hundred taels of silver per year!"
A guy in civilian clothes approached the boss, intending to atone for his sins.
Since the owner's family is finished, it's better to leave this broken ship as soon as possible.
"Okay, okay! If what you say is true, there will be a big reward from above!"
Nowadays, profiteers are everywhere, and there is a shortage of people who take the initiative to report them.
"you……"
When the grain merchant heard this, he immediately became so angry that he felt dizzy, his eyes blurred, and he almost fainted on the spot.
"Someone, put this profiteer in the car!"
Whether it's true coma or false coma, we have to catch it and talk about it later.
Ruan Dacheng, Peng Bin, and Chen Mingxia saw this scene at close range, but like other onlookers, they did not dare to criticize the soldiers' behavior.
The other party said that they were acting according to orders, which is not easy to say. The previous petitions by the scholars were suppressed by the factory guards, and now a curfew has been imposed. Any further comments will bring disaster from the mouth.
People with fame and fame are treated like this, but ordinary people without fame will probably not be able to get out after being arrested. If they can escape with a narrow escape, they will be useless in the future.
Not only this shop, but the entire street, and even the entire city.
Because a certain emperor had a flash of inspiration in the middle of the night and felt that the material control strategy adopted by a certain dutiful son when he was shrinking was very reasonable.
In view of the dire situation of a large-scale strike in the city, emergency measures must be taken to ensure that the residence, officials, and soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion are fed and drank.
Didn't the merchants go on strike to resist the imperial court?
Just in time, a certain emperor sent out the Yongwei Battalion to directly collect taxes from the merchants in Nandu City!
It doesn't matter if the profiteers are unwilling to pay taxes, let Huang Degong lead his men to collect them directly!
If you have money, collect money; if there is no money, move all the goods in the store away!
Grain, salt, tea, sugar, wine, cloth, porcelain, and iron are all available!
Anyway, if the market is on strike, the people won't be able to buy goods, so Yongweiying can do it for them.
After deducting the expenses of the Yongwei Camp, part of it was divided by the Houdi, and then sold at a flat price to the officials, and the rest could be sold to the common people.
Each household holds a household registration certificate and based on head count, a man between the ages of 14 and 54 can buy one catty of rice a day, a woman of the same age seven taels, an elderly person five taels, and a child three taels.
Retailing in this way is also convenient for poor people to buy. They don’t need to use silver, as long as they have copper coins in their hands. A pound of polished rice sells for fifteen yuan, which is convenient and affordable.
Chongzhen didn't believe that he could not win people's hearts despite his good intentions, otherwise everyone in the city would be unruly!
As for the money obtained from buying goods, there is no need to return it to the profiteers. It will be deposited in Taicang, the Ministry of Household Affairs, and regarded as tax income.
Chongzhen wanted to use this tax collection strategy to make profiteers understand that petitions or even strikes would be severely punished!
This time, not only will I not tolerate the strike, I will also bankrupt the profiteers!
Any merchant who appears on the Yingtian Mansion's roster, as long as he opens a store in the city, participates in a strike, or refuses to sell behind closed doors, will be regarded as resisting the imperial court, and the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion can go directly to inspect them.
According to the strength, they are divided into three levels. The first level requires paying 10,000 taels, the second level requires paying 20,000 taels, and the third level requires paying 50,000 taels, all of which can be used to offset fifty years of tax arrears.
If you are willing to pay taxes, you can naturally get away with it.
Otherwise, the Yongwei Camp will receive the goods if they have the goods, but arrest the people if there is no goods.
Arrest people first, then use the property deeds to cash out and then deduct taxes.
If there is no house deed, the whole family will be allocated a mine in Ma'anshan!
Paying 10,000 taels of silver can offset fifty years of back taxes. This is definitely a good deal.
Even with such favorable conditions, the profiteers in the city are not willing to obey easily.
But in the face of the wolf-like and tiger-like soldiers of the brave guard camp, it is useless to deny in every possible way and to try hard to quibble.
Huang Degong's men don't listen to this nonsense. If they have money, they will get money. If they don't have money, they will get goods. If they don't have money or goods, they will arrest people directly!
After being taxed by the Yongwei camp, these profiteers were left wailing in place, because it was like locusts passing through the border and nothing was left.
Almost no merchants were willing to take the initiative to pay and force the Yongwei soldiers to take action. This was not something that money could solve.
The profiteers didn't expect that these gangsters from the north were actually worse than the men of Xincheng Bo Zhao Zhilong...
The original gang of guys could be dismissed as long as they paid their dues every month.
The swarm of "locusts" coming now will be able to empty out all their money and goods in a short time.
It's just that I didn't insult women, beat the old and young, or set fire to the house...
According to Emperor Chongzhen's idea, even if each merchant household pays a tax of 10,000 taels, 10 million taels of tax silver can be collected from a thousand merchant households.
But after several battles and the guidance of a certain filial son, Chongzhen also understood that this was just his beautiful idea, and the actual situation was much worse.
Not to mention Yangzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places, even in the southern capital city, few merchants would take the initiative to pay taxes in full, and the vast majority were fighting against themselves.
For these profiteers, Chongzhen also planned to kill them all. Then there would be no hens that could lay eggs, and he would have to expect to continue to collect money in the future!
The dispatch of the Yongwei camp this time is to teach the profiteers a lesson so that they will not dare to make mistakes easily in the future. If anyone dares to rebel and rebel, the Yongwei Battalion can suppress them.
I am not Grandpa Wanli. The profiteers want to use the strike method to fight against me. What a wishful thinking!
Chongzhen no longer intends to make any concessions to profiteers, otherwise the other party will definitely make further progress.
Moreover, Chongzhen also planned to see how much goods the profiteers in the city had hoarded and how much money they had saved!
If the traitor could act like this in the northern capital and achieve great success, he would certainly be able to do the same in the southern capital.
At present, the city gates everywhere are closed tightly, and no one is allowed to leave without an order. The brave guard camp is like catching a turtle in an urn.
All merchants in the city must be screened one by one!
In addition, Chongzhen also followed the example of a certain filial son and implemented rewards for reporting.
That is, reporting others to evade taxes. If verified, the reporter can receive 20% of the suspect's cash.
If the total amount is one thousand taels of silver, the reporter can get two hundred taels, which is already a lot for ordinary people.
Especially the housekeepers and clerks in some profiteer's homes should be relatively clear about their master's behavior.
If you can get the account books written in private, it will be tantamount to conclusive evidence and can be a sure thing.
As long as it is verified, he can be sentenced by the Metropolitan Procuratorate. He will first be imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, and then be sent to Ma'anshan to mine!
Refusing to pay 10,000 taels of tax and mining for ten years!
Refusing to pay 20,000 taels of tax and mining for twenty years!
Refusing to pay 50,000 taels of tax and mining for fifty years!
