After the examination, there was the palace examination. After Zhu Yuanzhang passed the palace examination, he asked Zhu Yu to supervise the country, and then left the capital on the grounds of patrolling the world.
He originally wanted to visit privately incognito, but Weihaiwei was too far away from Fengyang, and it would take more than 20 days at the fastest to go back and forth.
It was impossible for him to disappear for more than twenty days without any reason, leaving his ministers unaware of his whereabouts.
It just so happened that all the roads in the six major municipalities had been repaired. He also wanted to take this opportunity to see the roads in the municipalities and how the municipalities had become under the new system.
On this trip, he not only brought Liu Ji with him, but also Li Shanren and Song Lian.
Along the way, he was escorted by Tang Ding.
Tang Ding was transferred to take charge of Liaodong, and he happened to be heading to Liaodong on this trip.
Jiang Huan protects him secretly.
All the way north, the road is built flat and wide.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I'm afraid this road will not be damaged for decades. It is a good thing that benefits the country and the people. With this road, there will be more communication between the south and the north.
Although this year's treasury revenue has not yet been fully calculated, it far exceeds our imagination. "
Several people looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and waited for the next step.
"Do you know how much the treasury's tax revenue will be this year?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
"I don't know, please ask Your Majesty to clarify my doubts!" Li Shanren cupped his hands and said.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "A total of 15 million taels, which is more than three times compared to the previous two years."
After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but take a breath.
Fifteen million taels, this figure does not include the grain tax. If the grain tax is added, it must be more than 20 million taels.
Liu Ji licked his lips, "His Majesty led all of this well!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy, but he did not accept the flattery, "It doesn't matter to us. If we follow the previous method, we can have five million taels of silver this year, and we will burn incense.
The tax reform is still good. In the past two years, the expenditure has been high, but the income has been higher. In addition, Lao Liu has taken care of us, so the state treasury expenditure is not bad.
Unlike previous years, when we were always in deficit, we had to find ways to make money every day. "
Liu Ji finally understood. This was a compliment to the King of the Sea.
Li Shanren didn't quite understand what the emperor meant, so he just followed his words and said: "It can be seen that King Weihai's new system is still very effective. Logically speaking, the wool comes from the sheep, and the treasury tax revenue has increased sharply, but he didn't hear that There are complaints in the local area, which shows that this tax money is not obtained by plundering the people's fat and the people's anointment."
"What you said is right to the point." Zhu Yuanzhang said: "This is what we have been worried about before, so we specially sent people to investigate, and the results were indeed far beyond our expectations.
Seventy to eighty percent of these new taxes are commercial taxes. Although the taxes are high, these merchants earn more.
Moreover, a large part of the tax money of these merchants was deposited in Sihai Bank.
Sihai Bank, you know, is a bank that has sprung up in the capital recently. You can deposit money and send rice and oil in exchange for interest.
I heard that in the past few months, the Sihai Bank Beijing Branch has taken in deposits of three million taels of silver! "
Liu Ji clicked his tongue again after hearing this.
Song Lian was numb. It seemed that as long as there was any news about Zhu Jun, Yinzi could not get around it.
Moreover, for these deposits, one is willing to pay and the other is willing to endure. They give rice, oil, and interest. This is not similar to private loans.
However, they use the Weihai King brand.
But these people just do this.
As a result, many people want to imitate Sihai Bank, but there are very few depositors.
"I really don't know what this bastard is thinking. If he does this, he won't be afraid of losing money. How can he afford to pay back the money?" Zhu Yuanzhang said.
Li Shanren said with a smile: "Your Majesty, don't be anxious. If Your Highness does this, he is naturally fully prepared.
This bank is indeed convenient. As long as there is a bank, you can withdraw money at will with a special deposit check.
There is no need to carry a large amount of copper coins, gold and silver when traveling, which is very convenient.
This is why those merchants like to store their money in Sihai Bank.
Coupled with His Highness's reputation and credibility, everyone naturally trusts him.
As the saying goes, a good reputation cannot be bought.
His Highness's move is undoubtedly convenient for the people. "
Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard and said, "That makes sense!"
"But Your Majesty, King Weihai will permanently exempt agricultural taxes and corvee services in the vassal territory. This move will damage the foundation of the country and must not be ignored." Song Lian said.
Speaking of this matter, everyone in the carriage frowned.
A large part of the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang went on tour this time was because of this incident.
Zhu Jun was determined not to come, so he went over and asked him personally what he thought.
How can a country develop without collecting agricultural taxes? Without collecting corvee labor, if there is a large-scale project to be done, is it possible for the court to provide money to hire people?
Moreover, this incident not only caused great repercussions in Weihaiwei, but also caused considerable vibration across the country.
Reports from various places were reported, and people started to lead the way, leaving their hometowns and settling in Weihaiwei.
Not only that, this matter even reached Zhang Zhou and Chen Han. Many people thought that Daye would be exempted from grain taxes and corvee.
Just like this year's imperial examination, many students talked about this.
Some people criticized Zhu Jun for undermining the country's foundation, while others supported him.
In fact, it does not matter if a place does not pay grain taxes. After all, there are places that are affected by disasters every year and are exempted from grain taxes.
But if one place never makes friends and continues to recruit people, what does this make people in other places think?
In the past, houses and land were given, and exemptions from taxes and corvees were given. Isn’t this a good thing falling from the sky?
Moreover, Zhu Jun's reputation was notoriously good. In the eyes of the people, it was unparalleled.
Otherwise, can Sihai Bank continue to operate?
Those people are willing to put their savings in the bank, but aren't they putting all their wealth in other people's pockets?
But that's what they did!
Zhu Yuanzhang asked himself that he couldn't do this, but this guy did it.
Liu Ji also said: "If one place does not pay grain, then ten places will follow the same example. I heard that someone spread rumors that the great cause is to abolish the grain tax and corvee."
People in many places have been incited. This is not a good sign! "
"We know that this is Zhang Zhou and Chen Han's people who are causing trouble behind the scenes. Not only that, but there are also people with evil intentions who are also adding fuel to the fire." Zhu Yuanzhang looked out the window, feeling a little irritable. Once he started this, what would he do in the future? Containing it is not that simple.
When deploying troops externally, if something goes wrong internally, it will be very troublesome.
Li Shanren said: "Your Majesty, this matter may be a troublesome matter, but it is also very likely to be an opportunity for us!"
