The other five people are humble in today's situation. Not to mention that they really don't understand, even if they understand, they don't dare to speak easily.
"Brother, hurry up and speak. Today we can speak freely and be pragmatic. There is no need to be cautious."
Zhu Gaochi is an enlightened monarch who doesn't understand and is willing to listen with an open mind.
He is more sensitive to the governance of the country than Xie Jin, Yang Shiqi and others.
He clearly felt that what Xu Qin said was definitely not nonsense!
The land system determines tax policy.
The tax base determines the longevity of the dynasty.
It's just that he has never heard of the 'three major measures' he mentioned, and has never read them in any historical records.
Even the teacher never mentioned it.
Xu Qin picked up the tea bowl and took a sip to moisten his throat. He put on a lecturer's posture and said:
“Let’s talk about the measure of sharing the land with the tenants first.”
"What does it mean to divide people into acres? Literally, it is easy to understand. It means that taxes are collected based on the land instead of based on the head."
"No matter how big the family is, it doesn't matter how much land they own."
"Ordinary tenant farmers or poor people don't have to pay taxes because they don't have land in their hands. But landlords who have a lot of land in their hands pay taxes on an acre basis."
"This can greatly reduce the burden of survival on the poor, allowing them to travel lightly, go out to look for livelihood opportunities, find ways to reclaim wasteland, or do business."
"And those landlords and gentry who own a large amount of land must find ways to make use of the cultivated land and not let it go to waste. This is a social responsibility."
"With this reform of the land-sharing system, it will be easier for the imperial household department and other related functional offices to manage it. Whoever owns the land will pay taxes on time, and they will be able to pay for grain crops or money."
"Allow the natural flow of people to adjust and revitalize the economy. Policies will reward new cultivated land. On the contrary, those who abandon land will be punished. The court will unconditionally take back land that has been abandoned for three consecutive years."
"As for corvee, it must be abolished from now on."
Xu Qin's words were even more shocking.
"This is a completely unreasonable slavery system that seriously restricts social progress and economic development."
"We advocate the principle of getting something for your work, getting paid according to your work, and the more you work, the more you get. Whether you are a court servant, a government servant, a county servant, etc., it is an employer-employee relationship. The employer must pay commissions on time. This is a system. Yamen at all levels must implement it to the letter."
"Even if you are serving in the military, you still have military pay and other security systems."
"Except for criminals, all citizens' rights are deprived here."
"Only in this way can productivity be liberated to the greatest extent, and currently productivity is the expansion of cultivated land, increased grain production, and increased population."
"It is easier to understand that officials and gentry all pay the grain and serve as servants. From now on, no matter whether they are a wealthy family or a country gentry and landlord, as long as they have land in their hands, they must still pay the public grain fairly and equitably."
"For public affairs such as annual disaster relief, the families of officials and gentry must uniformly obey the court's call and contribute work or money. In short, they should share social and public responsibilities with the people."
Xu Qin gave an emotional interpretation of his three measures, which shocked the seven talented men in the side hall, including the prince.
These three major measures are simply outrageous.
We must know that contemporary officials, officials at all levels from the imperial court to county offices, are either descendants of wealthy families or from landlords and squires.
Mr. Xu's measures are to revolutionize their lives and weaken their interests. Can they agree?
It's very difficult to implement.
Improper operation of this kind will cause social unrest.
But to be honest, this is indeed a progressive system.
Yang Shiqi was stunned for a moment, then stood up and said with cupped hands:
"After listening to Mr. Xu's explanation, I was enlightened. The current tax rate is actually not low, but the amount of the poll tax is limited. If calculated per acre of land, the total tax revenue of the imperial treasury will increase several times."
"This is an effective measure to effectively curb the brutal expansion of the power of the wealthy aristocracy and large landowners, strengthen central finance and taxation, and narrow the gap between the rich and the poor in society."
Yang Shiqi was born in a poor family, and he was a poor man. Of course, he hated the exploitation of the powerful class.
"As for corvée, the majority of people hate it deeply."
Yang Rong, who had been silent all this time, couldn't help but speak because his father was the county magistrate.
"The method of corvée borne by villages is 'one person in the annual corvee', that is, the village chief will lead ten households in a village to serve for a period of one year."
"The main responsibilities include managing the population and property of the township, assisting the government offices in maintaining local security, and waiting for dispatch from the government offices at all levels."
"There are even more miscellaneous services, which can be divided into capital services, government services, disaster relief missions, tax and grain collection services, warehouse services, post office services, prison services, civil engineering services, etc."
"It is really miserable for a homesteader or tenant to face all kinds of corvee labor every year after completing the tasks of planting and paying taxes."
Xie Jin waited quietly for Yang Rong to finish before asking a question.
"Corvee service is a recognized system in all dynasties throughout the ages. If it is abolished and the employment system is adopted, how much money will be needed? Can the treasury provide it?"
"It can be seen that the formulation of public policies of the imperial court is by no means a slap in the face decision-making. We might as well think about it from a different perspective now."
His words were like a splash of cold water, causing several people present to think.
The brightness in Zhu Gaochi's eyes suddenly dimmed.
"What is reform? Reform is revolution, it is a life-and-death struggle!"
"It doesn't matter if there is strong resistance in the early stage of the reform. It's like a terminally ill patient. Strong medicine must be given, and localities must be forced to enforce it. They may even send out the army, or draw personnel from the army to form 'Jizhengwei' and send them to various places."
"As for the difficulty in paying the treasury that Mr. Xie is worried about, don't worry. As long as the work of allocating people into acres is completed and the money turned over to the treasury is secured, the Ministry of Accounts of the Imperial Court can first issue 'treasury bonds' and pay with gold dollar certificates."
"The next step for the Yongle Dynasty was to unify weights and measures, unify silver coins into two types: coins and banknotes, and gradually prohibit the circulation of gold and silver in the market."
"???"
Hearing the summary of Xu Qin's profound speech, for Zhu Gaochi, who understood the national affairs of the Ming Dynasty, it was like a sudden rain after a long drought, which made him feel refreshed from head to stomach.
He was really shocked.
Although he knew that his cousin was a genius and often had fantastic ideas.
But he never imagined the limits of Xu Qin's talent.
I'm afraid my mentor Yao Guangxiao may not know it either.
Unexpectedly, Xu Qin's short words had already touched the limit of Zhu Gaochi's imagination.
My cousin is so talented that he can explain the roots of the land and tax system that have existed for thousands of years from ancient times to the present.
Although there are many new words, it is not difficult to understand. The key is to be able to solve the problem.
These Xie Jin, Yang Shiqi, etc. are Xia Yuanji and others. These are rare in modern times.
It is impossible for all the wise ministers to do it.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaochi happily turned around and grabbed Xu Qin's sleeve and said happily:
"My good brother is a great talent, I am so happy to be alone!"
