Although Huang Qiong has already formulated the plan, the annual revenue of Da Qi's court will be mainly commercial tax, supplemented by agricultural tax. But agriculture is the foundation, and without food there will be no stability. The imperial court needed a large amount of food to provide disaster relief and raise troops. If the burden is too heavy, more and more farmers are abandoning their land. Those wealthy families and clans that did not pay money and grain had more and more land in their names. If things go on for a long time, what will the imperial court use to support its troops and provide disaster relief? Even though the overall taxes in Daqi can be said to be not heavy, they are all passed on to the ordinary people.
That's a heavy burden. Originally, the tax law of this dynasty was based on the tax laws of the former Tang Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty with slight changes. In other words, apart from the Ding tax, the imperial court levied taxes not based on household registration, but based on the amount of land. However, with the gradual stabilization of the political system, a new generation of powerful people appeared in large numbers, the clans multiplied and multiplied day by day, and the population base became increasingly large. Since the Xuanzong Dynasty, some clan members and nobles have begun to refuse to pay taxes. From the beginning of the Lizong Dynasty, as long as you became an official, you did not have to pay taxes.
Even though this official's family's farmland occupies 80% of the local area, they still don't have to pay a penny for money or food. And the taxes in this county cannot be reduced or reduced. Otherwise, it will not only be a failure in the official assessment. Moreover, not to mention what the imperial court used to support the army, there was no place to cover the expenses of the local county government masters and officers. In order to pay the money and food to the court, but also to support myself and my master, as well as the official duties of the county government. The tax revenue of a county naturally falls on the ordinary people who only occupy 20% of the land.
And everyone knows that the civil servants in this world are a huge group, and they have the right to speak in the world. If those Juren were included, I'm afraid the size of this group would be even larger. If military officers, nobles, and clans are included, this group can capture almost all the powerful people in the world except the emperor. Therefore, even if you know this, it can be said to be full of disadvantages. But no one dared to poke this hornet's nest. Including several emperors, none of them touched this bad luck.
Over the past few decades, it has become a common practice for officials to not pay any salary. And not only did those officials not pay the grain themselves, but even the land of their relatives could be exempted in an open and honest manner. In the old man's generation, as long as you win the election, you don't have to pay any money or food, which further reduces the tax source. As a result, the poor in the national treasury can only spend 100,000 yuan for disaster relief even in a major disaster. The poor have a heavier burden, but the rich can rely on their rights to find ways to avoid tax.
In this way, how could public dissatisfaction not boil over? This is also Huang Qiong, who is determined to vigorously implement this change. And it’s not just tax exemptions for big landowners. Huang Qiong also publicly levied land transaction tax for the first time. That is to say, whether you donate or purchase the land, you have to pay taxes. Not only do buyers have to pay 60% of the total purchase price of land as land transaction tax. The seller also has to pay 50% as transaction tax. If it is donated, both parties must pay 100% tax.
In order to ensure that the money and grain that should be collected are collected, those officials, gentry, nobles, and clans who always take advantage of their power and find ways to evade taxes cannot escape. Huang Qiong specially adjusted the structure and authority of Nanzhen Fusi. Divide Nanzhen Fusi into two parts, one part of which is dedicated to collecting the so-called excess tax and various land transaction taxes. And this yamen is not responsible to any superiors. He is only responsible to Huang Qiong, the emperor himself. Jia Quan was transferred from the General Affairs Department to the newly established Duzhi Department as the general manager.
If it weren't for the strong opposition of Zhongshu Sheng, Huang Qiong even wanted to put all the shipping departments in various places under the jurisdiction of this branch. In the end, after several disputes, Huang Qiong finally made a compromise. Although this branch is only responsible for collecting excess tax and land transaction tax. But Tobe had a major surgery. The various bureaucracies that were originally responsible for collecting commercial taxes and agricultural taxes, including the Ministry of Household Affairs themselves, have fundamentally undergone a major adjustment in terms of authority and responsibilities.
All the granaries in various places under its jurisdiction were transferred to Sinong Temple. The Salt Tea Horse Road, which was used by the roads to collect salt tax, tea tax and horse tax, was also demarcated from the Ministry of Household Affairs. The various official departments responsible for commercial taxation and normal agricultural taxation, as well as the municipal shipping departments in various places, were all assigned to Taifu Temple. The Ministry of Household Affairs, which was originally responsible for collecting taxes and allocating money and grain, was now only responsible for spending money, managing the national land register, and water transportation. After much hesitation, Huang Qiong continued to manage the Money Making Department and Qian Fatang under the Ministry of Household Affairs.
As for Taifu Temple, which is responsible for taxation, and Sinong Temple, which is responsible for warehousing matters, there were several disputes. It was finally decided that it would be jointly managed by Zhongshu Province and Shangshu Province. And the first blow of this change was to the clan, nobles, and officials who were in office or retired. This clear edict directly shocked the world. How can those who have vested interests be willing to give up the fat they have swallowed? What's more, most of the land under many of their names, including the family's name, has exceeded the tax-free ceiling stipulated by the court.
Asking them to spend a large amount of money every year to pay the taxes they have been evading all these years is almost equivalent to cutting off their flesh. Even though they are extremely rich, they still don't want to pay. Although they all receive generous salaries from the court and enjoy tax exemptions for the land under their names, it is absolutely impossible for them to take money out of their pockets. In a short period of time, the Secretary of General Affairs received almost several rooms full of discounts. In Zhongshu Province, officials who have retired come to insult me every day.
The clans in various places pretended that since I was a descendant of Emperor Taizu, I would enjoy the support of the world if I fell off the grass, and there was no way for me to pay. Huang Qiong is not used to these people at all. If the clan resists the tax, they will directly send Nanzhen Fusi to take them away and confine them. Incumbent officials generally did not dare to do so, so they encouraged those who had retired to serve to come and cause trouble. Aren't you relying on your old age to act like you are old enough that no one dares to touch you? Huang Qiong directly stopped their retirement benefits. When will taxes be paid, when will they be restored?
Moreover, whoever dares to resist and refuse to pay taxes has been ordered to do so, and the land under his name has not been rectified within three months. The land under his name will be directly auctioned to offset the tax arrears. If he still refuses to hand over, Nanzhen Fusi will directly send someone to take him away. There are two county princes who rely on their seniority. Even the old man would call him uncle and would rather die than pay the money and food. Huang Qiong was offended and directly sent people to sell the land in his name. And all land transaction taxes will be borne by them. As soon as this action was taken, the clan that had been the most clamorous became the first to calm down.
While secretly cursing Huang Qiong, the emperor, for being too cunning, he honestly began to pay the taxes. There will be no confinement or house confiscation, but the land in your name will be forced to be sold. And all of it is sold, not even an acre will be left to you. The money from the sale, apart from making up for the arrears of grain and paying the heavy land transaction tax, the rest will be returned to you. But the land is gone. If you want to buy it back, you will not only have to pay another land transaction tax, but you will also have to suffer the loss of harvest.
The most important thing is that in order to make up for the tax in the shortest time, these lands are often sold very cheaply. Regardless of whether it is irrigated land or dry land, we will give you a price, which is often only 70% of the market price, or even lower. If the officials in charge were to do something secretly or get involved again. The money obtained may only be 30% of the market price. Such a loss would be too great. Faced with such huge losses, the money and food they could fully afford were nothing.
This seemingly upright, but actually extremely destructive method forced those clans to obediently follow the customs and pay the taxes they were supposed to pay. Seeing that the clan members had become more honest, the officials were reluctant to do so, but in the end they did not dare to resist. Especially those officials whose retirement benefits have been suspended do not dare to make trouble again. Although they don't care too much about the retirement benefits, the problem is that they really can't afford to lose that person. Especially a few hard-nosed people became much more honest after being arrested and yoked.
Of course, these people who are not willing to throw away their vested interests do not dare to resist on the surface, but they are still dishonest secretly. Many local officials even turned a blind eye to the actions of those gentry and powerful people to resist taxes. Some scholars even encouraged those scholars to stop taking exams. What's the purpose of being an official for thousands of miles? Isn't it just for the privilege? If they no longer have privileges, what's the point of being an official? Even if the small amount of money and food is only targeted at those who hoard land among them, it still makes all officials dissatisfied.
The thoughts in the minds of those officials were no different from those of the officials. It is impossible to say that among all the actions, none of them were really for the imperial court. But most people who are officials just regard it as a profession. To put it bluntly, they are no different from those who do pedicures, fiber-drawing, wine making, fishing and farming. After becoming an official, no one is prepared to stay in poverty. What do you do as an official? Not just to make money, and then make the most reliable investment, which is to buy land to make the family rich.
If the court does this, won't their dreams be shattered in half? With this intention in mind, and with the secret instigation of the teachers and examiners, many candidates stopped taking the exams. As a result, none of them thought that facing them, the law does not blame everyone, or even the idea that scholars are superior to others. Huang Qiong's response was even more intense, and all those who participated in the boycott were exempted from merit. Regardless of whether it is a scholar, a scholar, or a child student, they will all be wiped out to the end, leaving nothing for them.
Moreover, it was clearly stated that those who participated in the imperial examination strike would never be allowed to participate in the imperial examination again once they were deposed. They are also not allowed to participate in any situation of election. In various places, whether it is government examinations or road tests, if there are insufficient places, those scholars who have lost their names will be replaced according to their original rankings. And priority was given to substitutes from among various schools and Imperial College. Don’t you want to be an official? Then don’t do it. If you don’t do it anyway, there are people who do it. As soon as this result came out, those who had stopped taking the exam were completely dumbfounded.
Not only was the merit that had been earned for ten years lost, but he was also never allowed to take the exam again. For them, this is like a bolt from the blue. Make trouble again? If he makes trouble again, he will be immediately shackled and sent to Ningxia Mansion. As for the officials behind the instigation, Nanzhen Fusi came directly to the door. Don’t you want to be an official? Well, no one should do anything, just salute and get out. Not to mention the official position, even the benefits of becoming an official are not available. Those officials who stirred up trouble secretly had no idea that this policy had been implemented as early as the beginning.
Huang Qiong expected that the biggest and strongest opponents were not the clans. The clan has no power, and in fact, it doesn't have much say. Even those who were enfeoffed were actually under the strict supervision of the imperial court. Even if they are making trouble, as long as they are tougher, they will calm down in the shortest time. As for the nobles, first of all, they don’t have much land. And with the decline of the founding nobles, many of them have no rights at all except for the empty viscount title.
