After Hu Zhi left, Li Ke waited for almost half an hour before twenty-two businessmen were invited to the reception room.
This time there were more people in the reception room. Unlike Hu Zhi, the identities of these people were more complicated. They had intricate relationships with almost every wealthy family.
"I have met His Highness the King of Qin."
"Without courtesy, please take a seat, everyone." After Li Ke asked everyone to sit down, he smiled and said, "Actually, just now, I met one of your colleagues, who is also a businessman, a businessman from Guangzhou."
When Li Ke said this, everyone present almost immediately guessed who this person was. After all, at the hidden bidding auction, everyone was deeply impressed by the highest price. The person who stands out the most in this kind of thing is always Very attractive.
Although some people may not have reacted at the time, most people must have reacted afterwards and knew why the businessman named Hu paid such a high price. Now that Li Ke has met the other party, it is obvious that the other party's purpose has been achieved.
"You may have guessed who it is. In fact, I invite you here this time because I want to discuss with you the future of Datang's business." Li Ke said with a smile.
"Your Highness, King of Qin, please speak. I will naturally obey you." The oldest man in the crowd, who looked to be about sixty years old, said.
"You're welcome. Since this is a discussion, everyone can speak freely. In fact, since Datang 2019 last year, I have been thinking about one thing, and that is the importance of business to a country."
"It can not only promote the circulation of goods, but also assist the flow of materials in Datang, strengthen the circulation of materials between various regions, and most importantly, more and more business activities can create many jobs for Datang In this way, people in some areas that are not suitable for farming can use work instead of farming to earn income to support their families."
"In addition to these, the circulation of commerce will also make the country richer and richer. Of course, there is a premise for all this, that is, business activities must be taxed like farming." Li Ke said calmly, What to say to whom.
For those who can basically control it, there is no need to say much about paying taxes, they will not hesitate, but for those who are deeply entangled with powerful families, they need to talk about it in advance.
Firstly, this news may be conveyed through their mouths to some people who want to know. Secondly, it actually tells them that he, the King of Qin, wants something from them.
Desire but not knowing how to stop it is a loss of the reason for wanting; having something but not being satisfied is a loss of the reason for existence.
Almost all businessmen who could achieve this in ancient times understood this truth.
If you ask for something, you will get something.
There is no such thing as pie in the sky, and these businessmen understand this truth deeply.
Li Ke said the word "pay taxes". The faces of the twenty-two people were relatively calm. A few people's expressions changed slightly, but they were all calm.
However, none of them took the initiative to speak. Apparently everyone heard what Li Ke had to say.
"As a businessman, as I once said, I hope that more patriotic businessmen will come forward in the Tang Dynasty, but similarly, those who collect wages for everyone should not be allowed to freeze to death in the snow. As an excellent patriot Businessmen, we can’t just ask them to give something and get nothing.”
"So, I made a suggestion to my father to expand the scope of the imperial examination in the future, not only from the gentry, but also to merchants, craftsmen, and common people." Li Ke said with a calm face.
Li Ke's words made the twenty-two people present unable to sit still.
This... Li Ke hit the weak spot of all of them at once.
They are all people who have achieved wealth freedom to a certain extent, and what such people pursue is the improvement of their own "class." Even though Li Ke has gradually eliminated the huge gap between classes, They don't know, at least in their minds, that they want to advance their "class."
And Li Ke's words were giving them a step up.
If merchant families could also participate in the imperial examination, would they still need to get entangled with some powerful families? At that time, even if Datang collected commercial taxes, how much they could collect was so little compared to what they "paid" every year!
For them, who should this part of “expenditure” be given to but not given to? And the Tang Dynasty court was willing to even grant them access to the imperial examination for these people. They paid the tax!
"Your Highness, as Your Highness said, I think as a patriotic businessman, it is normal to pay business tax." It was the old man who was the first to express his stance.
The others looked at each other, it... seemed like they had no reason to refuse?
"Your Highness, I am also willing to pay business tax." Others also expressed their voices. They are different from the powerful families, which are at their peak. They can control the official channels of the Tang Dynasty, control a large number of family members to carry out business activities, and control the people who farm all over the world.
At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, due to the land equalization system, the influence of aristocratic families on the people was minimized. However, the land equalization system of the Tang Dynasty actually accepted the private ownership of land by the royal family, bureaucrats, and aristocratic families. The state occupied most of the land, and then distributed to farmers.
In fact, this is similar to the household contracting system of later generations.
But there are some differences.
Nowadays, the influence of wealthy families on the common people is reduced to the minimum because of their land. If their commercial power can be cut off at this time, it means that in the short term, they will only have the most high-end path to take.
When the imperial examination system was completely reformed, it was the beginning of the complete demise of the power of powerful families. Unlike those who violently eliminated powerful families in history, Li Ke's move was to dig up the roots.
It does the least harm to the country. Likewise, at least someone knows what is going on and doesn’t need to kill so many people.
"Well, I believe that you are all patriotic businessmen, and you must be willing to pay taxes according to regulations. However, you also know that the imperial examination I mentioned cannot be done overnight. Of course, I am in the court I believe you have heard of some of the debates among ministers."
"I can't influence the imperial examination system of the imperial court, but I can sponsor different examinations to select outstanding talents to join the various industries of the Tang Dynasty from another angle, such as outstanding craftsmen, for example The editorial department of "Datang Weekly", for example, the Datang Chamber of Commerce United Ocean Fleet to be launched next, etc."
"But for exams, there must be outstanding students. Therefore, I have previously proposed the establishment of schools all over the world." Li Ke said with a smile.
