Fusu was thoughtful.
He probably understood.
Ji Heng is trying his best to prevent corruption in the middle.
Even if it means spending more manpower and financial resources.
But he clearly remembered that Ji Heng was talking about robbing money. Now he had indeed robbed merchants of money, but the court did not make much profit from it.
It is even possible for business taxes to be reduced.
He asked: "Mr. Ji, isn't salt and iron used to make money?"
"Now the court has to set up official offices, strengthen supervision, and hire salt workers. This time, the court has spent too much manpower and financial resources. If this continues, the commercial tax collected by the court on salt and iron may not be enough. It rises instead of falls.”
"Something doesn't seem right about this."
Fusu hesitated for a moment and expressed his doubts.
Daqin's people's livelihood is currently difficult, and it also needs to consider strengthening its foundation, which requires a lot of money to support. Now the measures proposed by Ji Heng not only cannot collect more money, but may even collect less money. From any point of view, this is a bit in vain. The truth.
Ji Heng smiled and drank the wine in Tongjue in one gulp.
He smiled and said:
"You're right."
"If Da Qin manages salt and iron in this way, the commercial tax in Guanzhong will definitely be reduced."
"But one thing needs to be clarified."
"Why does Da Qin collect so much business tax?"
"It is to ensure the operation of the imperial court, and also to protect the bottom line of society."
"Right now, the court may have collected less taxes, but from another perspective, it has also ensured the bottom line of society."
"This has failed to achieve its purpose."
"Besides."
"Great Qin's business tax will not be small."
"Why is this?" Fusu couldn't figure it out.
Ji Heng chuckled lightly and said: "The commercial taxes collected in Guanzhong will indeed decrease, but the commercial taxes collected in Guandong will increase."
"If you balance the two, the overall price will still rise."
"The only thing that is really lacking are merchants!"
Fusu frowned.
He was becoming more and more confused.
Ji Heng sat up straight and shook the jug beside him. There was not much wine in it. He poured all the wine into Tong Jue and then put the jug aside.
This hip flask will be useful.
At this time, Ji Heng continued: "There is a lot of iron in Guanzhong, there is salt in Longxi, and they are under the eyes of the imperial court. Even if merchants want to be greedy in private, they dare not be too blatant, let alone too presumptuous. But Guandong is different. The mountains are high and the emperor is far away. , it is too easy to do some tricks. Due to the greed of merchants, the commercial tax collected by the court is only a very small part. "
"If this method is implemented, it will rob business of profits."
"In the past, the status of merchants was very low. Most officials and nobles looked down upon them and would not bend over to make friends with them."
"In order to obtain the management rights of mountains, forests and ponds, merchants will inevitably give a large amount of profits to the nobles. Therefore, even if the nobles are sitting at home, merchants will take the initiative to give money. Therefore, the nobles will not look at the merchants at all, and will only regard the merchants as begging for mercy. The concept of losing a dog still exists today.”
“And it’s very ingrained.”
"It's just that with Qin's unification of the world, this situation has changed to a certain extent."
"When the Qin Dynasty swept through the Six Kingdoms, a large number of nobles from the Six Kingdoms chose to hide in hiding, and they were bound to give up some interests. Compared with the fields, the mountains, forests, and ponds were obviously less valued by the nobles, and these mountains, forests, ponds, and lakes eventually fell into the hands of the nobles. In the hands of merchants.”
"Without the exploitation of the nobles, the profits that merchants can obtain will be too much."
"In just a few years since the founding of the Qin Dynasty, many big merchants with huge wealth began to appear one after another."
"It all happens for a reason."
"Nowadays, big merchants from all over the country have huge wealth and thousands of slaves."
"However, whether officials or nobles, most of them haven't reacted yet and still look at merchants with the same lowly eyes as in the past. But today's merchants are no longer what they used to be. The power they control is not inferior to that of some nobles in the past. There are even some Worse than that.”
"In addition, Da Qin encourages big merchants to participate in business operations, which greatly helps merchants make money."
"With a little operation, these merchants have become big merchants spanning several counties."
"And after businessmen gain profits, will they choose to make concessions that benefit the country and the people?"
"Won't."
"They will only take advantage of the people's fatigue to make more money crazily."
"Even if it makes people miserable!"
"Privately, merchants will try every means to evade taxes and falsify accounts, because the business tax in Da Qin is too high for merchants, but even if Da Qin only charges one yuan for a stone salt, it is not enough for them. It’s still too high.”
"What they are pursuing is extreme profits!"
"If you are interested, you can compare the commercial taxes collected in Guanzhong and Guandong. The gap between the two will be very big."
"Under the strict supervision of the imperial court, many businessmen's fraud and tax evasion can be curbed to a certain extent, which in turn increases a lot of business taxes."
"Looking only at Guanzhong, commercial taxes will be reduced."
“But looking across the country, business taxes are only increasing rather than decreasing.”
"But don't expect too much from Kanto's business tax."
"Now Da Qin's control over Guandong is not that strong. Even if the imperial court implements supervision, it will not be able to collect all receivables. But as long as this system is implemented and a certain amount of business taxes can be increased, for Da Qin's current situation, it will be The goal has been achieved.”
Fusu nodded.
He actually didn't think about it.
Merchants have become so terrifying after unification.
Looking at Fusu's solemn expression, Ji Heng couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.
Merchants are not terrible, but merchants who have mastered a large amount of production means and merchants who work with officials are the real blood leeches.
And that's what he wanted to do.
Just let the merchants position themselves correctly.
We can only be a seller of products, not a monopoly or even a controller.
immediately.
Fusu had new doubts and said in a serious voice: "Da Qin does not have strong control over Guandong now. Can this system really be implemented?"
Ji Heng smiled and said, "Yes."
"And it certainly can."
"Why is this?" Fusu was puzzled.
Ji Heng's eyes showed a trace of emotion, and he said slowly: "The hustle and bustle in the world is all for profit and gain."
"The world used to look down upon merchants."
"So to a certain extent, we are allowing merchants to grow bigger."
"But as the imperial court issues administrative orders, the meat in the hands of merchants will undoubtedly be targeted by local officials and nobles. They used to disdain to rob merchants' things, but now the imperial court has proactively given the opportunity, and even thought of the reasons. Do you think they’ll be able to control it?”
"Merchant has money."
"But they have no status."
"You are destined to be at the mercy of others in a place."
"In the past, the imperial court did not drop the sword on the merchants, and the merchants seemed to be swallowing their anger, so not many people noticed. But once the imperial court wanted to take action against the merchants, everyone in the world who had some power in their hands would think about it. Bundle."
"Merchant can't resist now!"
"This is why I have been emphasizing that businessmen should not be given any opportunity to come into contact with power. Once they are exposed to power, it will gradually evolve into a merger of government and business. By then, businessmen will have the ability to resist, and by then, they will not think about it anymore. It’s not that easy to pull down businessmen.”
"Officials wouldn't agree either."
"What merchants do is the existence of second-rate dealers."
"It should continue as it is."
"And the status should continue to be so low."
"Only in this way will nobles and officials continue to look down on merchants and avoid large-scale mergers in the future."
"While merchants enjoy a lot of wealth, they should wear a pair of shackles as a matter of course."
Hear the words.
Fusu figured it all out at once.
Businessmen are now just children holding jade in the hands of a group of people. They have a lot of wealth but no ability to protect it.
It's just that the merchant hid it very well in the past and was not noticed by others. In addition, other people were unwilling to bully a child, which gave the merchant the opportunity to make a fortune silently.
But now, under the deliberate guidance of the imperial court, the merchant has been pushed to the most conspicuous place. The jade in his hand is also so clearly exposed to the world. A child holding a jade but with almost no resistance, this is clearly It's fat meat brought to your mouth.
Even if the officials in Guandong are at odds with the imperial court and the nobles of the six countries hate the Qin Dynasty, they will still choose to compromise in the face of interests.
This is an inducement!
As Ji Heng said before, the officials in Guanzhong cannot control it, but how can the officials and nobles of the six countries and nobles in Guandong control it?
What he plots is the human heart.
It's a conspiracy!
He was using the hands of the officials from Guandong and the nobles of the Six Kingdoms to cut off the big merchants from all over the world one by one. Even though the officials from Guandong and the nobles from the Six Kingdoms ate most of the meat, as long as the court could get a small bite from it, For Da Qin, everything was profitable.
Because of these interests, the court had never been able to touch them before.
Upon closer inspection, it seems that apart from the damage to the interests of the merchants, all the forces are happy.
This is not the case.
Now that the imperial court can take a bite, it means that Guandong has lost a bite.
Invisibly, the power of Kanto was weakened.
And this method is to use Kanto's hand to weaken Kanto.
This is clearly trying to drive away a wolf and a tiger!
Again.
Da Qin seems to have only reaped a small amount of benefits, but this is not the case. Through the government's supervision of salt and iron, the court has lowered the price of salt and iron, which has invisibly reduced the burden on the people. Therefore, from a national perspective, Da Qin It's obviously a huge profit.
Da Qin clearly paid a very small price, but it not only increased business taxes, but also reduced the burden on the people. More importantly, it also invisibly weakened the merchants and Guandong.
It can be said that it achieves multiple things with one stone.
Fusu looked at Ji Heng with horror in his eyes.
He now fully understood why his father was unwilling to pardon Ji Heng.
This guy is so scary.
Turning your hands over becomes clouds, turning over your hands becomes rain.
If this person is an enemy of Great Qin, I am afraid that Great Qin will really be in danger.
And Ji Heng’s scheme was not about people.
He plots people's hearts!
He just plainly told the world what Great Qin was going to do, but no matter the officials or the nobles of the six countries, even if they knew his intentions, they would still fall into it one after another. Even if they might deliberately resist in the early stage, they would still be unable to escape in the end.
Because the benefits are exciting!
The Kanto forces can endure it for a while, but can they endure it for a lifetime?
Can they bear it?
Can others tolerate it?
In the end, they became Ji Heng's pawns to stir up the world one by one!
They even enjoyed it.
This is the thought.
Fusu felt his scalp numb, and even his hair stood on end.
Thanks to He Qingjin Liuli for the 500 starting coin reward.
grateful!
(End of chapter)
