"Underdeveloped commerce and irrational distribution are the crux of the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Yijun frowned and said thoughtfully: "But I heard that private commerce is quite developed now. Needless to say, Jiangnan, since I answered the seal Since the tribute, I heard that even the trade between the north and the Tumochuan River is quite good. I have read a lot in various places in Xuanda, and they all say that the towns of Xuanfu and Datong are about to become the north and the south of the Yangtze River. Also, your Jinghua Trading Company Aren’t you also making money by doing business with Tumochuan?”
"Your Majesty, do you think this can be called 'developed'?" Gao Pragmatic sighed: "Your Majesty, since you mentioned the Jinghua Trading Company, I am open-minded and would like to discuss this issue with the Emperor."
Zhu Yijun showed an interested look and looked around. There happened to be a few big rocks in front of him, so he said, "Okay, let's go over there and sit and chat."
Gao pragmatic knew that Zhu Yijun lacked exercise and that although he was young, he could not walk very far, so he smiled and said: "Okay."
The two of them then stepped forward to the pile of big rocks. Chen Ju and Cao Ke quickly helped Zhu Yijun and Gao Pragmatic clean the rocks as much as possible. The two of them didn't care about their demeanor anymore, and sat with one big stone each.
Zhu Yijun looked around with some guilt. Fortunately, it was already night, and a large number of people were near the Huangzhuang Courtyard. There were only occasional patrolling sentries passing by in the outer circle, but they sat here without moving. The sentry will not care about these two scholars.
Seeing that he would not be embarrassed, Zhu Yijun felt relieved and said: "Okay, tell me, I also want to hear your methods of making money."
Gao pragmatic smiled and said: "Almost ten years ago, Jinghua Trading Company was still called Jinghua Caravan. At that time, because they could get horses from the Mongols and sell them to the Xuanda border army, they were able to export (meaning to go out of the customs) , and by the way, I will do some business in cloth and silk, um... and some rogues, etc., and I can earn about fifty thousand taels of silver a year."
Jinghua Trading Co., Ltd. started out as a pragmatic collector of surrendered bandits. Zhu Yijun knew about this. In order to get some war horses, the border army of Xuan Dynasty secretly allowed some caravans to leave the customs and trade with the Mongols. Zhu Yijun also knew something about it, so he knew all about it. He was not surprised. What surprised him was the amount of fifty thousand taels of silver.
Zhu Yijun opened his eyes wide: "Before the tribute, they could earn 50,000 taels a year? Do you know that when Yuegang opened, the tariff in the first two years was only more than 20,000 taels a year?"
The word "tariff" has actually been around for a long time, but Gao Pragmatic especially likes to use it, and even Zhu Yijun is now used to it.
Gao pragmatic smiled and shook his head, saying: "Does the emperor know what their gross profit was on the Xuanda line last year?"
Of course Zhu Yijun didn't know and just shook his head.
"The gross profit is about 430,000 taels, and the net profit is a little over 360,000 taels." Gao Pragmatic said calmly.
Zhu Yijun's eyes almost popped out of his head, and his voice changed: "How much? Net profit 360,000 taels?!"
Gao pragmatic nodded and emphasized: "It's just the two lines of Xuanfu and Datong."
Zhu Yijun suddenly stood up: "Shanxi is a province that can't pay 360,000 taels of tax a year!"
That's for sure. The country's annual income is only 5.1 million taels, of which almost 1 million taels come from the four major ports. After deducting the gradual increase in commercial taxes across the country in recent years and the increase in land clearing, In fact, the basic tax is only three million taels.
The "tax in Shanxi province" mentioned by Zhu Yijun must only be referring to land tax. How many fields are there in Shanxi? Speaking of which, there are 42 million acres, but Shanxi is very mountainous. There are very few fields on it and many thieves on the fields. How much tax can we pay? If you can convert it into a land tax of more than 100,000 taels, it would be considered a blessing from God.
Therefore, the income of Jinghua Trading Co., Ltd. from Xuanfu and Datong alone was twice as much as the land tax of Shanxi Province. As the emperor, Zhu Yijun only "stood up suddenly" after hearing the news instead of jumping up directly. This is considered very stable...
"So, people like me are the ones who should pay the most taxes." Gao Pragmatic sighed: "Your Majesty, you might as well think about it. The Jinghua Trading Company alone makes so much money in Shanxi in a year, but I There is no need to pay taxes, so what will the money be used for? If it were other people, they would probably have no choice but to buy land or build a garden." Gao Pragmatic also stood up when he said this. After all, the emperor was standing, and he Can't sit down.
Zhu Yijun's eyes wandered and he thought for a while, wondering: "But, you are a Jinshi, so you should not pay taxes. The country should hide its wealth among the people..."
"If we say that wealth is hidden among the people, don't the people pay taxes?" Gao Pragmatic chuckled: "Your Majesty, this means hiding wealth among the people."
"This is also an ancestral system..." Zhu Yijun sighed, and then felt a little surprised, as if he had just met Gao Pragmatic today: "Pragmatic, what did you mean by what you just said? It sounds like you want to pay taxes?"
Gao Pragmatic laughed and said: "Your Majesty, if all the Jinshi in the world pay taxes, I would be willing to be the first to pay. But if other Jinshis don't pay taxes, I can't do it alone."
"Tch!" Zhu Yijun rolled his eyes at him: "I thought you saw how poor I was and wanted to help me."
Gao Pragmatic shook his head and said: "I actually don't care about the tax money, but Your Majesty, do you really think that paying a single tax can solve the problem of the court's lack of money? I think it can't be done, even if I pay a hundred dollars a year. A tax of ten thousand taels cannot really solve the problem - excuse me for being rude, but the problem now is that your Majesty is begging for food with a golden rice bowl."
This is indeed a bit rude. For others, Zhu Yijun would definitely be "angry" or even "angry", but Gao Pragmatic is not "someone else". He is Zhu Yijun's childhood friend and classmate for ten years, and may even be Some friends.
So Zhu Yijun just calmly suppressed his anger and asked: "I know what you mean. What you mean is that the Ming Dynasty is not short of money. At least the scholars and some people related to the scholars are not short of money. The real shortage is The only ones who make money are those humble people and me, the emperor!"
"The emperor is wise." Gao Jingshi guessed that the emperor would not be angry with him. After all, Zhu Yijun had been his classmate for ten years, and many of his thoughts were influenced by Gao Jingshi. He knew that Gao Jingshi's words were true, so Gao Jingshi said again : "But that's only half."
"Half?" Zhu Yijun rolled his eyes, his face darkened by three points, and he snorted, "Do you want to say that the other half is the hidden land of Huangzhuang, Wangzhuang, the vassal clan, and even the relatives and nobles? ?”
Gao Pingshi smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wise."
"Don't just be the 'Emperor Wise'!" Zhu Yijun gradually became angry and glared at Gao Pragmatically and said: "Don't I know that they have a lot of hidden fields in their hands? Don't I know that the total of these fields is amazing, and they cost a lot of money." Occupying the land that many people should have? But what do you want me to do? Treating the clan, the nobles, and the scholars preferentially are all ancestral laws, and they are for the long-term peace and stability of the world. How can I still abolish them all by issuing an edict? ?”
