"His Majesty?"
The British Duke's face was filled with disbelief.
Not only him, but everyone except the four cabinet ministers and Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Household Affairs, were also shocked.
They knew that the emperor had many ideas and was very decisive, but they were all expressed in political affairs, and they did not expect to deal with business affairs.
Looking at the shocked people, Sun Chengzong secretly laughed. The ability displayed by the new emperor had amazed him countless times.
The British Duke touched the contract in his hand: "You are all so fast."
Liu Zongzhou, the Minister of Rites, stroked his beard and said: "If it can be implemented, then the four million hectares of military farmland will produce almost 240,000 taels of silver.
If you include interest (interest), it’s almost 290,000 taels.
With an average of nearly 150 million taels per year, it is easy to support military salaries, but there are two problems here. "
"First, the land sale period is twenty years, but what happens after twenty years?"
"Secondly, four million hectares is a lot. Including what is in the hands of the common people, the total is about 5.5 million hectares. The average per capita is less than three acres, which is still a little short of it.
The clan and gentry still had to find ways to get rid of the land they had. "
Most of the ministers nodded. Although the sale problem was solved, it was a one-time deal. Even if they were economical, they would be exhausted in fifty or sixty years.
One is that if the problem is not enough, all the work done in the early stage will be in vain if it cannot be solved.
Chongzhen sighed inwardly. As expected, most of the scholars were not familiar with businessmen. They were shouting about the suffering of the people, but they didn't know what to do.
"The first question is, after the land is sold and the court has money, will it need to build bridges and roads, develop water conservancy projects, build academies, etc.?
Do we need ordinary people to do these projects?
Add in the income from farming, and people will have money in their hands. Do we have to find ways to get people to spend their money? "
"Flower out?"
Liu Zongzhou asked subconsciously, and then said: "Don't you have extra money? How can you have extra money after spending it?"
Without waiting for Chongzhen's response, Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Household Affairs, spoke out: "Master Liu, only when money is circulated can its value be reflected.
There were 150 million people in the Ming Dynasty. If each person saved two taels of silver, there would be little silver on the market.
How does the imperial court pay military salaries to sergeants? How to purchase etc?
The imperial court had no choice but to dig silver mines to solve the problem of having no money, and save money while mining.
Then one day the purchasing power of one tael of silver will end up being only half a tael, or even lower.
Why is there no basis for large-scale silver mining in the past dynasties?
So we can only let the people spend it and let the money circulate. Having extra money in hand does not mean saving money. Let me put it this way, do you understand? "
Not only Liu Zongzhou, but also Qin Liangyu and others were a little stunned.
"What Guo Aiqing said is true. This is inflation. The money is still one tael, but the purchasing power has deteriorated, and the people have lost money, so they have to spend it."
After Chongzhen finished speaking, he took a sip of tea and then asked: "Where do the flowers come from? Restaurants, inns, rouge gouache, ready-made clothes... and other places.
Then the number of these shops will increase. When the number of shops increases, people will need to be hired to help, which will also increase people's income.
What the court has to do is collect taxes. The current commercial tax is a mess. I remember that in the sixth year of Wanli, the tea tax was 17 taels in Yunnan and about 6 taels in Zhejiang. How ridiculous! "
When Chongzhen said this, his voice was cold and stern, full of murderous intent.
Everyone was silent when explaining that the tax issue has always been a big problem, and they knew it, but it involved many problems and interests.
It cannot be solved by one person.
Chongzhen glanced at everyone: "Of course, changing the tax system will take time, and it's not now. The top priority now is to get the fields out.
The issue of tax reform should be kept confidential for now. I don’t want to hear about it from other places. "
"I don't dare!"
Everyone stood up and knelt down.
As long as what I just said can be fully implemented, in a few years the commercial tax revenue will be at least 50 million taels per year.
Coupled with the sea ban and so on, ten million taels a year is not a big problem.
But to achieve it, the process is rugged, difficult, and takes time.
By then, it would be no exaggeration to describe it as a river of blood.
"Everyone, get up and let's talk about the second question."
Chongzhen put his hands behind his back: "Have you seen the standard contract in your hands? Yuan Keli in Xi'an Mansion is leading people to Qingzhang Field. Once it is completed, it will be sold in this way. We just wait for the opportunity."
Everyone was confused and waited for the emperor to continue speaking, but after waiting for a few breaths, the emperor did not continue speaking. They were a little confused.
Sun Chengzong naturally knew that the emperor used public opinion as a sword to kill the clan, gentry and wealthy businessmen.
He knew it, but he couldn't say it.
Zhang Weixian's pupils tightened for a while. At this moment, he also understood Chongzhen's intention and his whole body trembled.
Looking at Chongzhen's eyes, he was filled with fear, and then he was secretly glad that he had completely stood up for himself.
The rectification of the Forbidden Army made him feel a little uncomfortable, but some of the power he controlled could also save the Zhang family's life.
It's not just that he was demoted from the first-class official position to an ordinary wealthy family.
But if he does not completely stand up for his side, then the Zhang family may be wiped out if the emperor's strategy of using public opinion as a knife is implemented.
Under the sword of public opinion, the clan will not be spared, not even the clan, let alone the Zhang family.
Others tried to figure out Chongzhen's intentions one after another, but their eyes were full of fear.
Is this a conspiracy, or an unsolvable conspiracy?
Land is the basis for people's survival. Having land means that they can have enough food and clothing.
There is no need to worry about the wealthy businessman increasing the rent, or about one day taking it back, or about being robbed by a bully.
As long as you have land and are willing to work hard, you will always have something to eat.
It's worth everything to pay for this stutter. They really dare to do anything.
Having been oppressed and exploited by the wealthy businessmen and gentry, now that they have this opportunity, they must seize it.
As for whether the wealthy businessmen and gentry will be forced to rebel, this question does not really exist. If they dare to rebel, the local people will kill these people.
What's more, there is also the Forbidden Army. They don't know to what extent the current Forbidden Army has been consolidated.
But judging from the Tengxiang right guard who appeared in Beijing some time ago, he can definitely suppress any rebellion by wealthy businessmen and gentry.
And they will all be targeted by public opinion.
They consider themselves to be honest officials, but they can't stand their families going behind their backs.
If something is found out, it is hard to say whether the people will be angry or not, but it will definitely not work as an official in the government.
They all also made up their minds to conduct a strict inventory of their property after returning and make plans in advance.
After a moment of silence, Guo Yunhou, the Minister of Revenue, stood up and raised a question.
"Your Majesty, the gentry, wealthy merchants and clans have an installment payment strategy, so everything is easy to handle, but there are too many interests involved in the military camp, and it may..."
"What could it be?"
Listening to Chongzhen's faint rhetorical question, Guo Yunhou's heart trembled, and he continued: "Maybe he will resist and cause chaos, if..."
"If there is no if, if anyone dares to resist, then they will all be killed. I also want to test whether the Forbidden Army can fight."
