The topic of Qingzhang's father-in-law's honor in the capital came to an end with the tacit smiles of Gao Pragmatic and Zhang Xueyan. Next, Wei Xuezeng would start to talk about his business.
Wei Xue was once the minister of the Ministry of Industry, but when he opened his mouth, he said something that was still related to the Ministry of Revenue: "Yesterday, the Ministry of Revenue received an imperial edict saying that a whipping method has been implemented since the Jiajing period, and the people said it was simple. But the service was redundant and the name was gone. In fact, there are officials who are pursuing the conquest as before, and the people are suffering. Therefore, the emperor has decided to relieve the people's difficulties, and in accordance with the requests of various places, a total of more than 1.3 million taels of silver have been approved. "
Gao Pragmatic was stunned for a moment, "How much should we reduce?"
Wei Xuezeng said expressionlessly, "More than 1.3 million taels."
Gao Pragmatic opened his eyes wide, "Then the income growth of the Ministry of Household Affairs in recent years has been more than half filled in."
Wei Xuezeng glanced at Zhang Xueyan, who smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. , river engineering and other areas are all doing well, in fact, to put it bluntly, it is simply due to the full amount of the payment. As a result, this year due to this imperial edict, the actual increase is only about 800,000 taels. It is estimated that the income from border wages and river engineering It will all be reduced by half."
"Why?" Gao Pragmatic was puzzled. "It's not like the emperor doesn't know the importance of wealth. Why would he make such a decision?"
Wei Xue once lamented, "This was caused by various local officials talking to each other one after another and talking about the local difficulties. In fact, they just wanted to say that the examination method was too strict and they could not collect so many commercial taxes."
Gao Pragmatic frowned slightly, but before he spoke, Zhang Xueyan added helpfully, "Then Mr. Shen Ge came to the meeting and said that now that the national treasury revenue has increased significantly, there is more to relieve people's poverty. He might as well transfer the various taxes owed by various places over the years. , the corvee exchange for silver is exempted, so that the local government can restart the calculation in the future, and there will be no reason to default."
But Gao Pragmatic still frowned, thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "This is wrong. It is not that the arrears over the years cannot be reduced, but there must be reasons for the reduction. For example, a certain place suffered a serious disaster this year, and the emperor was kind and exempted the local government. There is no problem in reducing or exempting local land taxes that have been arrears over the years as appropriate. But how is it fair to reduce or exempt such a nationwide tax? I mean, how is it fair to those places where there is no arrears? Doesn’t that mean that they have paid normally in the past? You’re stupid, but if you drag it, you’ll be gone.”
Wei Xuezeng sighed, "Seeking truth, you are the only one who dares to say this. Do you know that as soon as Mr. Shen Ge handed over this memorial, officials from all over the country applauded him, and even praised him like a flower?"
"Of course the local officials have to praise him," Gao Pragmatic sneered. "Those local officials who have had their arrears reduced or reduced over the years have to praise him because they have lost a large amount of tasks. The local officials who have no arrears that can be reduced or exempted also have to praise him because they have lost a lot of tasks." What if they also have to pay in arrears in the future?
So the only people who suffer are the common people who have paid taxes normally over the years. What a pity. These people may not know about this at all. Even if they know, they will still praise it, because when they hear that the emperor has reduced taxes elsewhere, Sometimes, they only feel that the emperor’s kindness is actually a blessing to all people, and they will not consider this matter from the perspective of the whole country.”
Zhang Xueyan and Wei Xuezeng looked at each other in surprise. Before, they only thought that Gao was pragmatic, shrewd and sophisticated, which did not match his age at all. Now after hearing these words, they felt for the first time that this was really a high school mystery. Heir to the mantle
This is "taking the world as one's own responsibility"
Nowadays, if you can consider your annual income for the imperial court, you will already be a great loyal and capable minister.
You said Sheng Dou Xiaomin
Don't be kidding me. What does Sheng Dou Xiaomin have to do with these officials? Officials don't pay taxes.
Especially the local officials, who have been called "Mushou Yifang" since ancient times. What is Mu Shomu? What is shepherding? The sheep are alive and their wool is dead, but their meat is dead. In this case, it doesn't matter whether they are alive or dead.
Of course, the current examination method must be an "evil method". How can you require me to have wool and mutton, and at the same time not allow the sheep to rebel? It is unreasonable. Do I, a shepherd, have to be responsible for raising sheep? Is it so low-level and troublesome? How can we let people like us who have studied hard for many years handle things like this? It’s so polite.
Zhang Xueyan was shocked by Gao Pangshi's words and was speechless for a moment. Wei Xuezeng was the "Old Gao Party" who had been with Gao Gong for many years. Hearing this, he sighed and said, "The people can let it go, but they can't know it."
Gao pragmatic interrupted, "The people can make it happen, but they can't make it happen, just know it."
Wei Xuezeng was startled: "Read this sentence"
Gao pragmatically said, "Wei Budang can know how to respect virtue and righteousness."
Wei Xuezeng nodded.
Gao Pragmatic said, "Then Wei Butang should know that one of these two sentences is that respecting virtue and righteousness and understanding the ethics of the people can be a king. The other is that benevolence can be new, righteousness can be respected, loyalty can be trustworthy, and learning can be It’s beneficial, and teaching can be compared, but it’s not.”
Wei Xuezeng nodded again.
"So, isn't the truth obvious?" Gao Pragmatic said, "In fact, Confucius also meant that if the people know benevolence, righteousness and etiquette, they can govern according to the principles. If the people don't know, they must understand the principles. In short, governing the people cannot be governed by principles. A forced way.”
Wei Xuezeng opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say for a moment. Instead, Zhang Xueyan said, "Educate all peoples. This has been said in the past dynasties, but in fact, how to educate people? I am the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, so I started with spending money. Now I can spend it on society every year." How much money can be spent on schools, county schools, etc. How many people have been educated? If you want to talk about all the people, where will the court collect so much money and food to educate the people? If it wants to collect so much money, I am afraid that all the people will have to be intolerant before they have time to educate. The words have changed.”
The truth seems to be this. Compulsory education is of course good, but how can we afford compulsory education in today's Ming Dynasty? Even if all children across the country only receive one year of compulsory education, I'm afraid the money and food needed will be astronomical, but there is no compulsory education. Even before it started, "the whole world was in rebellion"
However, Gao Pragmatism didn't change his tone at all. Instead, he said seriously, "That's why we must unswervingly implement the examination method. Why can't people who can afford taxes pay more taxes? Let's not talk about others. Just call me Gao Pragmatism." , as we all know, I make a lot of money every day, but I actually want to pay taxes and there is no way to pay them. Jinghua Musket Factory and Jinghua Artillery Factory need to pay taxes. But the idea was proposed to San Bo by myself, and it was considered as something I made for myself. In addition to the tax amount, I don’t have to pay taxes on so many properties, don’t you think this is ridiculous, you two ministers?”
Facing the two dumbfounded ministers, Gao Pragmatic waved his arms and said, "What's wrong with Ming Dynasty? It's not the common people, it's people like us, especially people like me, Gao Pragmatic." I was born with an official status, so I didn’t have to pay taxes when I was born. However, I’m good at doing business, but why don’t I have to pay taxes? Just because I was reincarnated well. "Be an official"
Now, not to mention Zhang Xueyan, even Wei Xuezeng did not dare to answer the conversation. He swallowed, coughed, and changed the topic: "Let's get back to the business first and talk about the insufficient annual income this year. Because of the insufficient annual income, Brother Zhai has already calculated that this year's river construction allocation may be reduced by 60 to 70%, but as a result, the major project of diversion of the Yellow River may not be completed as planned."
He coughed dryly and said, "This matter involves Henan, so I am here to discuss it with you, Qiu Zhen, to see if there is any way, for example, whether the payment for cement purchased by General Henan can be temporarily postponed."
