"I am willing to serve your Majesty as hard as I can!"
"I am your Majesty's servant, and I shall be loyal to your Majesty! But please give me a few kind words, Mr. Li!"
Liu Haojia laughed, picked up the wine glass and said, "Come on, after drinking this glass of wine, we will become brothers!"
Upon seeing this, the three ministers Wu immediately picked up their wine glasses and drank them all in one gulp, then put down their glasses and held their hands to each other in a reserved manner. Liu Haojia was even more satisfied. Now he had successfully formed a small alliance. While maintaining his influence, he could finally get away to do other things. Everyone was happy!
Liu Haojia signed up to enter the palace after the morning court the next day. Emperor Wanli, who had been waiting for a long time, impatiently asked Zhang Jia to welcome him in. As soon as he entered the palace, Emperor Wanli strode over and asked eagerly: "Liu Aiqing, how much money did you collect? How much can you share with me?"
Liu Haojia took out a thick account book from his arms and handed it over, saying: "Long live Lord, this is a detailed account, you can take a look!"
Emperor Wanli waved his hand and said, "I won't look at the account books, so just tell me how much money you collected in total and how much can I get?"
Liu Haojia put down the account book, turned to the last page and said: "Long live my Lord, the total income is 384,567 taels and 855 taels! However, the fire consumption and other expenses were not removed at this time. number."
Emperor Wanli's eyes widened when he heard this, with a look of surprise on his face! But then he quickly calculated. He studied arithmetic in the palace, and although he was not proficient in it, he could still calculate quantities quickly with 30% verbal arithmetic. So he said with a weird smile on his face: "I can get almost 120,000 taels, right?"
Liu Haojia naturally nodded in agreement. After receiving the confirmation, Emperor Wanli laughed loudly and said loudly: "I finally have money!"
Liu Haojia, who was standing aside, bet that Emperor Wanli must have started to list the things he wanted to buy in his mind, and the quantity would definitely not be small!
Emperor Wanli jumped around the table for a long time and finally calmed down after breaking out in a sweat! He sat down and took two sips of tea and said, "I only got a hundred thousand taels of more than three hundred thousand silver, so why did someone else take the bulk of it?"
When Liu Haojia heard this, he knew that Emperor Wanli was starting to be petty and thought he was getting too little money! But he didn't even think about it. If it weren't for Liu Haojia, he wouldn't be able to receive the money at all! However, he still took a step forward with a smile and said: "Long live my lord, I have discussed it with Minister Wu and the others yesterday. From now on, your majesty's share will increase. You can take half of it directly! But you have to deduct half of the expenses first!"
When Emperor Wanli heard this, he immediately became happy, slapped the table and said loudly: "Well done! I will reward you heavily!"
After he finished speaking, he began to pour out his bitterness to Liu Haojia, saying how miserable and difficult his life was under the supervision of his mother and Mr. Zhang, and that he had nothing he wanted!
As he spoke slowly, his voice became smaller and smaller, and finally fell silent. After a while, Emperor Wanli said in a deep voice: "Zhang Jia, do you know what my annual income will be in the next year?"
Zhang Jia lowered his head and said, "This slave really doesn't know!"
Emperor Wanli turned to Liu Haojia and said, "Do you know about Liu Aiqing?"
When Liu Haojia saw this, he secretly lamented that he was still not as good as Zhang Jia in terms of trust! However, he still bowed and said: "Long live my lord, last year I earned more than 17 million taels of silver in the next year. I don't know yet this year, but I guess it will be a lot more than last year!"
Emperor Wanli lowered his head and thought about it and said: "My annual income next year will only be more than 17 million taels of silver. Even if it increases a bit this year, it should be around 189 million taels of silver. It won't be more! But! The capital alone collects nearly five million taels a year. What's going on? Are they all being corrupted by the people below?"
When Emperor Wanli said the last sentence, his voice was fierce! Zhang Jia knew Emperor Wanli's temper well, and when he saw his look, he knew he was really angry, and couldn't help but look at Liu Haojia for help.
Liu Haojia gave him a reassuring look and then bowed and said, "Long live Lord, there is no corruption problem here, it's because of the different tax types."
Emperor Wanli said: "The issue of tax types? There are only a dozen types of taxes in the Ming Dynasty. They are nothing more than field tax, Ding tax, salt and iron tax and commercial tax. There are also taxes on tea and wine. Is there any new tax? "
Liu Haojia said: "Long live Lord, now the main tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty comes from the field tax, you know this. Although the Ding tax is not as large as the field tax, it is also a considerable supplement. However, the salt and iron tax has shrunk in recent years. Let’s not mention how powerful it is for now, there is another type of tax which is commercial tax!”
Emperor Wanli said: "I know this. The money you collect now is actually commercial tax, right? But why do you only collect so much commercial tax, but the court can't collect much?"
Liu Haojia said: "There are many reasons for this. First of all, my business tax is too low, and this is one of the reasons."
Emperor Wanli said: "But the tax rate of thirty to one tax was the rule set by Taizu back then. His old man and the ministers at that time would not be so unwise and leave such a big hole, right?"
Liu Haojia said: "Taizu Taizu and the ministers at that time were both outstanding leaders, and the strategies they set will not be wrong. But as the saying goes, when Taizu was in power, there was no end to the war, and everything was ruined. It’s a time of prosperity! In order to speed up the circulation of civilian goods, Taizu set up the rule of thirty to one tax. He hoped to lighten the tax so that merchants could speed up the circulation of materials and restore the wounds left by the war. But now I have a great Ming Dynasty The Chao Dynasty has been peaceful for many years, and trade has been prosperous. It is not appropriate to collect a commercial tax of thirty to one tax, not to mention that even this thirty tax to one commercial tax may not be collected!"
Emperor Wanli squinted his eyes and said, "Then what is your current rough tax collection standard? In addition, why are the business tax rates not raised?"
Liu Haojia pointed to the account book on the table and said: "The actual money collected by Weichen should be around 13 taxes. However, some industries are different. For example, in the pharmaceutical industry and the livelihood of widows and widowers, some are reduced and some are exempted. But luxury places like casinos and brothels have to charge more. As for why the tax revenue doesn’t come up, I have to ask His Majesty to forgive me. Only a humble minister dares to say!"
Emperor Wanli immediately raised his hand and said, "I forgive you!"
Liu Haojia didn't care about guilt or innocence. In fact, he just wanted Emperor Wanli to pay attention to what he said. He bowed and said: "Thank you, Lord Long Live! Let me briefly explain. In fact, many officials and wealthy families in the world are involved in business affairs."
